Sea of Thieves Season 21 Starts September 17 With a Free Weekend Until September 21

Sea of Thieves Season 21 starts on Thursday, September 17, and Rare is opening the game with a free play weekend that runs from 15:00 UTC on September 17 until 17:00 UTC on Monday, September 21. Microsoft says the game will be free to install and play on all of its supported platforms for that window, with no Xbox Game Pass membership required.

Sea of Thieves is sold on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC through the Xbox app and Steam, and PS5. The free window lines up with Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19, which is the first event of the new season.

When is the Sea of Thieves Season 21 free weekend?

The free access opens at 15:00 UTC on September 17, which is 8 a.m. PT and 11 a.m. ET. It closes at 17:00 UTC on September 21, or 10 a.m. PT and 1 p.m. ET. That gives new players just over four days, and the Monday finish gives them part of a working day too.

Microsoft's announcement does not say whether progress carries over if you buy the game afterwards. It also does not say whether the usual console online-subscription rules are waived. Check your platform's store page before you set aside a weekend for it. If you already have Game Pass, you do not need the free weekend at all, because Sea of Thieves is part of the library. Our September Game Pass wave rundown lists what else joined this month.

What's new in Sea of Thieves Season 21

Most of the season's changes are aimed at Custom Seas, the private mode where players set their own rules. Rare's season preview lists these changes:

• Layouts: you can place treasure where you want it, save that arrangement and load it again the next time you enter Custom Seas. Items that hold other items, such as chests, cannot have their positions saved yet. Rare says it is working on that.
• New Custom Seas toggles: hide other ships on your map, make the day-night cycle faster or slower, and choose which parts of a ship can take damage. More options are due during the season.
• Outfit save slots: these arrive alongside Layouts.
• Raid Voyages: on-demand World Event Raid Voyages are being removed. Their unique treasures move to World Events that appear on their own in the open world.
• Outpost stores: restocked with a wider range of cosmetics.

The seasonal track ends with the Flame's Light Lantern. Xbox players also get a Lone Survivor dynamic background.

Talk Like a Pirate Day rewards and how to earn them

The Talk Like a Pirate Day event adds a Parley Pennant, a ship flag that tells other crews you want to talk rather than fight. Signal that you are ready to parley three times and you earn the Parley Proficiency Sails. A Loquacious Figurehead is also on sale for a limited time as a Pirate Emporium bundle. The Emporium is the game's paid cosmetics shop, and Microsoft did not give a price for the bundle.

Game Pass members can claim a Vociferous Speaking Trumpet from September 17 to October 31 as a membership perk.

Sea of Thieves sweepstakes: prize and eligible countries

Microsoft Rewards is running a Sea of Thieves Golden Legends Sweepstakes from September 17 to October 31. It is open in the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands. The grand prize is a custom Golden Legends Xbox Series X with a matching controller, plus a year of Game Pass Premium. Entry runs through a Microsoft Rewards account, so players outside those seven countries cannot enter.

What comes after the free weekend

Rare's roadmap puts a community weekend with Pop Up Plunder, photo walls and fireworks later in September. October brings back Festival of the Damned and Last Ship Standing, along with Gold and Glory and a Bilge Rats Weekender. New quest board maps and trick-themed sails are also in the season plan, though Rare has not given exact dates for each one.

Free weekends are becoming a regular way for publishers to find new players this autumn. Xbox has also run Free Play Days with Borderlands 4 and Madden NFL 27, and EA made College Football 27 free on PS5 and Xbox. For what lands on the subscription next, see our list of next week's Game Pass day one games.