Sea of Thieves

First-Person Shared World Adventure Shooter

Overview

Explore a vast open world of unspoiled islands, sunken ships and mysterious artefacts. Seek out lost treasure, confront cursed Skeleton Captains and protect precious Trading Company cargo. Go hunting and fishing or dip into hundreds of optional goals!
Every Sea of Thieves session is unpredictable. Even a simple Voyage to a tranquil island can unfold into a skeleton ambush, a pitched battle against a fleet of Ghost Ships or a daring chase in pursuit of pirates making off with your plunder!

Role

Gameplay Systems
Designer

Developer(s)

Rare Limited

Publisher(s)

Microsoft Studios

Tools

Unreal Engine 4.5,
Perforce,
MS Sharepoint

Platform(s)

Xbox, PC,
Playstation

Release

2018

Contributions

Designed and maintained core progression and quest mechanics within a shared systemic framework supporting emergent player behavior.
Prototyped and refined gameplay systems in Unreal Engine, enabling rapid iteration and designer-driven experimentation.
Balanced risk, reward, and readability across PvE and PvP interactions in a live multiplayer environment.
Partnered with Engineering and Animation to ensure systemic features translated cleanly into tactile, readable player experiences.
Supported live-service development through tuning passes, systemic improvements, and ongoing content evolution.