Shrinking Battle Bounds

• While the Battle Bounds will continue to shrink at the same stages early in the battle, during the endgame the area will now remain at a larger size to provide more space for crews to battle.

• While most battles will end naturally in a flurry of cannon fire, prolonged battles of over an hour will now be forced to an end with the Battle Bounds shrinking to a final ‘match ending’ zone to ensure one ship can be crowned victorious.

Winners’ Grace Period

• After besting their rivals to become the Last Ship Standing, winners are now given additional time to collect their spoils and head to the final portal.

Last Ship Standing

• When enough rivals are found, crews surfacing from beneath the waves should no longer experience a stuck loading screen that prevents them from joining the battle. (Released previously as part of an interim update.)

Last Ship Standing – Waiting for Battle

• While travelling beneath the waves waiting for a Last Ship Standing battle, players may experience rubberbanding when moving around their ship. The team are aware of the issue and working to address it as part of a follow-up update.

• While waiting for a Last Ship Standing battle, crews are currently prevented from loading cannons and interacting with the ship’s Ammo Crates. This is not consistent with Faction Battles and will be addressed as part of a follow-up update.

Last Ship Standing – Quick Requeue

• Following a Last Ship Standing battle, the ability to requeue into the next fight has been temporarily disabled to address instability. The team are aware of the issue and working to address and return this feature as part of a follow-up update.

To learn more about known issues in Sea of Thieves currently being tracked and their status, head over to our Known Issues support site article[support.seaofthieves.com].

These release notes cover a hotfix. For full details on recently added game features, see the release notes on our latest content update.

We thought our calendar must be broken, but it turns out that it really is already time for another #StyleOfThieves contest! Where do the months go? Admittedly we did lose quite a few days to just staring out at sea waiting to see a big white shark appear on the horizon, but we’ve all had that moment at multiple times in our lives, right?

Dissociations aside, what have we been doing on the seas? First there was diving to Faction Battles to see how Season 19’s many tweaks have shaken things up, then there was joining in with the first ever Bilge Rats Weekender and getting our hands on some Doubloons to start refilling the old wallet. More recently, we’ve been working on our battle plans for Last Ship Standing! We’ll get a win soon…

Anyway, there’s now another way to spend some of your remaining Season 19 time, and that’s trying to win a pair of Fashionista’s Finery Gloves by rooting through your Clothing and Vanity Chests in search of some choice cosmetics for four brand new costume contest themes!

Style of Thieves has been running for a while now (since Season Seven!), but this is how it occurs for those who don’t know: posts dedicated to this Season’s themes will appear on Sea of Thieves social media channels around 10am UTC on the dates specified lower in this article; each post signals that the entry period for that particular theme is open!

Fashionable pirates like yourself then share screenshots of your interpretation of the prompt on your social media channel of choice, including the relevant information and a screenshot showing your pirate from the top of their head to the tips of their toes. Your goal should be to dig deep into your cosmetic collections, finding combinations nobody else has considered that help you stand out, but which also remain a clear response to the theme.

Each theme will be open to entries for 24 hours, after which time our Community team will sift through the sea of stylish scoundrels and pull out a shortlist they feel represents the best of the lot. An Art team representative will then be locked in a room with the lists and a hoard of snacks (we’re not monsters), and be made to stare at the entries for a minimum of 10 hours before their decision can be locked in (maybe a little monstrous). There will be four winners chosen per category, for a total of 16 across the four themes, and we will aim to announce the glove-gaining pirates on Friday, June 12th.

As this contest draws quite a lot of entries, we feel compelled to reiterate that this should be seen as a fun excuse to enjoy some pirate dress-up first and foremost. Use the contest as a reason to flex your rarest cosmetics and see your scoundrel in some different gear, and then enjoy how the rest of the community has interpreted each theme! Even if you don’t win in this #StyleOfThieves contest, we truly hope that everyone who takes part simply has a good time exploring the fun of fashion within Sea of Thieves, and enjoys reminiscing over the cosmetics earned during their adventures.
Image credit: MrMestriner on Twitter/X

With the introduction all restated, here’s the part where we give some indication of what we expect from Season 19’s one-word #StyleOfThieves themes:

Each theme will start at 10am UTC on the dates detailed below, with entries accepted via a variety of social media channels for 24 hours.

BattleBrace your buccaneer for a brouhaha with some brawl-ready garb! Fighting competence not required.
Entry date: June 1st

Circus
From clowns to ringmasters, find a fit that suggests you’re the sort to stick your head in a Megalodon’s mouth for fun/profit.
Entry date: June 2nd

Inventor
Grab some safety gear, despite the fact you probably have no interest in following safety procedures, and show us an outfit that signals imminent scientific breakthroughs.
Entry date: June 3rd

Whimsical
Pastel colours, flowers, big cuffs: if you could imagine your pirate wearing it to a renaissance fair, your costuming compass is probably pointing in the right direction.
Entry date: June 4th

Image credit: Nexdeal on Bluesky

There are of course rules to follow if you want to create a valid contest entry. For a refresher on these and how to enter via any of the applicable channels, please navigate back to this previous Style of Thieves article[www.seaofthieves.com] – remembering of course that Season 19’s themes are the ones in this article, the link’s just there for those who need the extra details! Regardless of where you’re sharing your entry, be sure to include the name of the theme you’re entering in your post, along with any extra info called for by the theme.

As an additional stipulation to ensure a fair playing field, entries may only use the retail version of Sea of Thieves and not the Insider build, following the lifting of the Insider Programme NDA. If we spot cosmetics yet to appear in the retail build, your entry won’t be eligible.

Right, we’re done. Time for us to go and check the locks on the judging room and ask the team to make sure the flowers on your Wreath of Wisdom Crowns are well watered and looking pretty. Assuming we don’t accidentally seal ourselves in the aforementioned selection space, we look forward to seeing your costumed corsairs from June 1st–4th. If you don’t see any social media posts from us in the next few days, however, please send a rescue crew. Cheers!