Sea of Thieves adding battles against wraith-spewing ghost ships in next week's update

After a relatively quiet update last month, Sea of Thieves is back with a big ‘un next week, raining dread upon the ocean with the arrival of wraith-spewing ghost ships from beyond this earthly plane. And, perhaps even more excitingly, a whole new bunch of shanties are incoming so that pirates can fend of the inevitable dread with a bit of a tune.

All this news comes via Rare’s latest developer update, in which Sea of Thieves executive producer Joe Neate also spends some time discussing, in light of the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests around the globe, the studio’s continuing commitment to creating a more meaningfully inclusive experience for players, and reiterates the teams’s zero tolerance stance on racism and discrimination in-game.

In terms of new content, however, next week’s major addition comes in the form of ghost ships, a brand-new quest type for the Order of Souls Trading Company. Once a voyage has been accepted, players can take to the seas and prepare to encounter the new enemy vessels, which rend open the air itself to sail across the boundary between the living and the dead.

Ghost Ships, Shanty Selection and Black Lives Matter: Sea of Thieves News June 12th 2020 Watch on YouTube

The ensuing encounter looks to play out somewhat similarly to Sea of Thieves’ existing skeleton fleet battles, pitting players against multiple AI ships at once. However, ghost ships – which looks suitably sinister, thanks to their deathly green hues – are armed with fearsome supernatural abilities not available to their corporeal brethren.