Sea of Thieves is setting sail for Season 5 this week, and Rare's pirate sandbox is getting a bundle of new toys. The game's "tools, not rules" North Star remains strong as Sea of Thieves approaches the end of its fourth year in the open waters of Game Pass and the Xbox ecosystem, as well as Steam. In Sea of Thieves Season 5, major quality-of-life updates and some much-requested features are making their way to the game, alongside a new Plunder Pass, a new type of mission, and a focus on deepening the pirate role-playing experience. Here's everything to know about Sea of Thieves Season 5.

When does Sea of Thieves Season 5 start?

Sea of Thieves Season 5 kicks off on December 2, with the update being available to download that morning. As this is a live update, there's no preloading of Season 5, though you could ensure your system is set to automatically update the game when the patch becomes available on that Thursday morning. As always, the update will be free for all players, and the game's more-generous-than-most free path of its Season 5 Plunder Pass will offer 100 rewards split across currencies and cosmetics. The paid path, which you can access for $10, will allow you to unlock an additional 14 cosmetic rewards, including the new and exclusive Creeping Cold skin.

There's no end date mentioned for Sea of Thieves Season 5, but if it follows the trajectory of past seasons, you can expect to chase Season 5's exclusive rewards for roughly the next three to four months or so, which would lead us right up to the game's fourth anniversary in March of 2022.