Sea of Thieves' previously revealed battle pass will launch its first season of player progression and rewards next Thursday, 28th January.
The battle pass - intended to offer a "tangible sense of progress", even when engaging in shorter sessions according to Rare - will feature 100 progress levels (with associated seasonal rewards) that can be unlocked through exploration, adventuring, and combat. There's also talk of pirate trials "that celebrate...existing content and encourage you to play in new ways".
Notably, this new seasonal model also marks a shift in development strategy for the multiplayer pirate game. Instead of delivering new content on a monthly basis, as it did previously, Rare will now release new features every three months, at the start of each new season.