over 1 year ago - a-faddison - Direct link
It’s a brand new year, but we can’t leave the old one behind without a final round-up now, can we? So much happened in December that frankly it’s all a bit of a blur, but we’ve picked out a few highlights to share as we take a look back over the happenings of the final month in 2022…

Content Update The Festival of Giving is still fresh in our memory, but if you cast your mind even further back you’ll realise just how much was going on in December! The first major development came in the form of {LINK REMOVED}‘The Rogue’s Legacy’, our tenth Adventure, which saw players joining the search for a cure to Tasha’s osteal ailment. Fortunately, following in Briggsy’s footsteps left Madame Olivia with the tools she needed to learn more.

Later in the month, we embraced the holiday spirit as {LINK REMOVED}December’s content update sent the Festival of Giving into full swing. From a Gifts & Glory Weekend and Twitch Drops to the annual challenges of {LINK REMOVED}Grogmanay, there was so much going on that honestly it’s a wonder anyone was able to keep track of it all. Although, on second thought, Grogmanay might have something to do with the hazy memories.

If you could drag your attention away from the festivities for long enough to buy a little seasonal treat for yourself, you might have popped over to the {LINK REMOVED}Pirate Emporium. Alongside some returning festive favourites, December’s update introduced the raptor-themed Soaring Oracle set, a new collection of rhythmic emotes and a trio of Trinkets drawing inspiration from familiar stories. Or for anyone watching their Ancient Coin purse, there was a free {LINK REMOVED}Tree Decorator Emote so you could raise a star of your own. There’s still time to grab any or all of these before the January update arrives!


News and Features As is tradition, we couldn’t release an Adventure without first giving you a new {LINK REMOVED}Adventures Ahead article to bring you up to speed – this time on Briggsy and Tasha’s exploits. Over on the player side of things, we updated the Community Hub one last time for 2022 and shared a new Spotlight on a pillar of the UK community, {LINK REMOVED}CalamityKez, to hear how she got into Sea of Thieves and what her work with her SoTUK family looks like.

Looking ahead, we thought the final month of the year would be a good time to fill you in on some of the {LINK REMOVED}upcoming improvements to the Battle for the Sea of Thieves, following a lot of feedback on the challenges players have been facing during matchmaking. If you’re still sitting here wondering what stamps have to do with anything, fear not, the summary is this: we’ve heard your concerns and we’re working on getting those matchmaking times down. All you need to do is keep sinking ships.

With all that done, we saw off the year with the Festival of Giving celebrations and left you with a thorough {LINK REMOVED}article-based summary of everything that would be going on through the holiday period. But we didn’t neglect our out-of-game content either, filling in the backstory of everyone’s favourite Reaper in the latest Sea of Thieves: Origins comic, ‘The Servant’s Tale’. You can pick it up for free {LINK REMOVED}right here!


Videos and Streams After so much new content dropped with Season Eight in November, it was inevitable that some people would still have questions about how everything worked, but have no fear! We released a… unique video at the start of December to set the record straight. Then, when it was time for a new Adventure, we dropped a cinematic trailer and a launch trailer to fill you in on Tasha’s situation and set you up for the arrival of ‘The Rogue’s Legacy’.

With the year’s last Adventure safely underway, we turned our attention to the Festival of Giving, throwing in a jam-packed episode of Sea of Thieves News to discuss December’s imminent update. Then we kicked off the Festival proper with {LINK REMOVED}a livestream to switch on the holiday decorations and share our best memories of 2022 – only to find the festivities interrupted by a surprise spherical visitor! Over the course of the next few days, the Orb shared mysterious {LINK REMOVED}visions of the future and hinted at what might be coming soon for the Sea of Thieves…

Of course, no Festival of Giving would be complete without a suitable song. To ensure that we were all able to really get into the spirit of things, the livestream debuted the ‘On Yule Tides’ shanty. To cater to all tastes, the ‘Sleighbell Selects’ collection offered a more traditional take on the music of the season so that everyone could enjoy the Festival with a jingle or two.


Social Channels As you might expect from the end of the year, December on our social channels was awash with looking back on the year and celebrating everything we’ve not only done ourselves but watched our incredible players pull off. Pirates from across the sea shared tales and wrote poems, while others offered their aid to new sailors taking to the seas for the first time.

The community also got creative with names, while elsewhere a visit from {LINK REMOVED}a special kitty threw the Doubloon economy into turmoil. Meanwhile the final #SoTShot contests of the year brought us Brawling Boats, celebrating some truly spectacular {LINK REMOVED}naval combat, and then a good old Pirate Party.

As always, December offered an opportunity to explore Your Story So Far with a series of personalised stats from, well… your Sea of Thieves story so far. And following a whistle-stop tour of New Golden Sands and a heartfelt wish for {LINK REMOVED}Happy Holidays all round, when it was finally time to close the year out, we threw in one final caption challenge to carry you through the New Year.



And that was December! Were you able to get involved in the festivities? What were your happiest memories from the year just gone? Let us know! And to get all the latest news and updates as they happen, make sure you follow us on Twitter, {LINK REMOVED}Facebook, {LINK REMOVED}Instagram, {LINK REMOVED}TikTok, YouTube or {LINK REMOVED}Twitch, or join the official {LINK REMOVED}Forums or {LINK REMOVED}Discord. And now with 2022 officially over, on with the New Year!



Previously in 2022: Sea of Thieves Round-Up: November 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: October 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: September 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: August 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: July 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: June 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: May 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: April 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: March 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: February 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: January 2022
over 1 year ago - /u/ - Direct link
A lil somethin somethin: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page here.