Determined to prove the ship isn't sinking, Sea Of Thieves developer Rare is giving players what they want: content. Or rather, the promise of content. Rare announced three big updates for the game, one focused on a mysterious AI threat and the other two offering new locations to explore and a new ship to reach them in. Alongside these will be new game mechanics as weekly events, all offered free of charge.

If there's one thing Sea Of Thieves has been widely criticized for, it's a lack of content. While the seas are vast and full of companions to play with, players have found the pirate life to be surprisingly uneventful. The lack of varied quest types and enemies to swashbuckle against have plagued the game's reviews and social media feedback. It's something that developer Rare is taking seriously, as outlined in a recent blog post. While April is being dedicated to addressing this feedback, May will begin the launch of brand new content.

First up is the The Hungering Deep, a content update that will release in May. A mysterious new AI threat will arise, and "crews will have to work together to discover and defeat this threat as part of a unique event." A number of "new mechanics" are also promised as part of the update. That's all that's being said about the Hungering Deep for now, presumably because saying too much would ruin the mysterious nature of the event.

This will also kickstart weekly events, which promise to bring a rotating set of challenge and unique rewards to the stalwart captains who log in on a regular basis. Then, two more content updates will come in the summer: Cursed Sails and Forsaken Shores. The first will introduce a new ship type while the second will reveal new areas to explore. Both of these, as well as The Hungering Deep, will be free.

It must be difficult to have your game be the butt of so many jokes and subject to outright disappointment. But Rare seems to be taking Sea Of Thieves criticism in stride, tackling its problems head on. It's too early to tell if these updates will change the minds of skeptics, but it does show that the developer is willing to listen to players and adjust the game accordingly. The waters might be rough now, but Rare might just weather the storm.