Play Games
5 days ago
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While Sea of Thieves is a goofy, lighthearted game on the surface, players have been reporting a recent surge in troubling incidents from the pirate sandbox. Some have been assailed with insults, threats, and harassment, while others have been kicked from the game with fraudulent temporary bans. On Wednesday, game developer Rare acknowledged the issue with a statement, stating that it’s identified and removed an exploit, and pledging to address the problems with upcoming moderation actions and tools.
Sea of Thieves is an online game that relies heavily on interaction with other players. There’s a Safer Seas game mode that allows pirates to sail alone, unbothered by other players, but that also comes with a huge reduction in game rewards. Sea of Thieves is also a fairly family-friendly game; the simple controls and colorful graphics make it easy for parents to let children or younger players give pirate life a try. Fans of the game have taken to social media, sharing their negative experiences, in an attempt to reverse the trend and create a safer environment.
The following videos include extensive use of racial slurs and talk of sexual violence.
Rare’s official blog post, written by production director Drew “Sonicbob” Stevens, addresses players’ concerns, stating:
We have recently seen an increase in player reports and community discussion on harassment and cheating. [...] On Friday 30th August we received reports that a small number of our active streamers and members of the community became disconnected from the game and appeared to receive temporary bans. For some players this also coincided with targeting from malicious actors within the game.
Our Live team quickly discovered a vulnerability in our support toolset that allowed these actions to take place. The Player Support team reinstated access to all players within 10 minutes and the vulnerability was subsequently patched within the hour. This was an isolated issue within the support toolset and didn’t affect the wider game or any player information as a result.
While only vulnerable for a short time, some players experienced unacceptable behaviour that is in breach of our Code of Conduct. This vulnerability has now been resolved.
In addition to the explanation on the vulnerability, Stevens writes that Rare is committed to “the ongoing work to keep our game secure and defend against the ever-present threat of cheat developers,” citing the addition of Easy Anti-Cheat in March. “While this initial integration halted many active cheat engines, we are now starting to see some of them return. We are committed to the ongoing work to harden our security, and alongside this commitment we are performing a full internal review across our game and our processes,” writes Stevens. Stevens also states that Rare is aware of ban evasion, and is “exploring ways to mitigate against this at both a game and a platform level.”
In coming updates, Rare will restrict certain features of Sea of Thieves, such as the PvP-centered Hourglass, behind a time or reputation lock in order to make it more difficult for cheaters to exploit those features. In addition, Rare intends to improve the game’s profanity filter and chat moderation tools. It remains to be seen whether the developer can outpace cheaters, or whether Sea of Thieves’ good vibes and open ocean will continue to be spoiled by malicious actors and bad-faith pirates.
