Don't look now, but Sea of Thieves is nearly six years old. Still, I don't feel it's ever really received the praise it's long deserved. With a live-service game, the nice thing is you can keep considering it for additional praise, and 2024 was certainly a year to raise a tankard to Rare's pirate sandbox once more. Amid a year in which it debuted on PS5, much to the joy of some players and the odd dismay of others, Sea of Thieves is experiencing arguably its biggest year to date in terms of sweeping changes and major additions.

The PvP meta was fundamentally shaken up with the introduction of several new weapons, such as a double-barrel pistol, throwing knives, Bone Caller bombs that spawn allied skeletons, and even a blowdart for the stealthier swashbucklers. The game also added traversal tools (without rules) to its bucket of fun, with harpoon ropes now acting as walkable tightropes, ziplines around islands, and a grappling hook for peak Captain Batman gameplay.

But Rare's best move may have been one it made earlier this year, which launched with the PS5 debut. An overhaul to selecting missions of any sort meant the on-ship Quest Table became a one-stop shop for all players, whether you wanted to take on a story-rich Tall Tale, storm a Skeleton Fort, or just beat up a few Ocean Dwellers deep below the waves. Dedicated pirates got major, meaningful updates all throughout the year, which helps keep the game among the very best you can play on any platform it exists, but perhaps on Xbox most of all, where many players have dedicated thousands of hours across more than a half-decade to living the complete pirate life (and it's still available on Game Pass). Sea of Thieves changed shape so much in 2024 that it's difficult to measure whether it's even the same game anymore--and yes, that was a Ship of Theseus joke.

-- Mark Delaney