Rare immediately backpedals on charging gold for deaths in Sea of Thieves

In a recent post on the Sea of Thieves website, Rare advised players that in a future update players would be charged gold for deaths. The Sea of Thieves Death Cost, as it came to be known, caused significant uproar amongst fans.

Due to the negative fan feedback, Rare has advised that it won’t be implementing the Sea of Thieves Death Cost.

Sea of Thieves Death Cost

Originally posted on the Sea of Thieves website the Death Cost was described as follows;

Death Cost – This new feature has the Captain of the Ferry of the Damned deduct a small gold fee when you die. Rates are dependant on the cause of death, so the more avoidable the death, the less patience the Captain will have when we enable this feature!

Understandably, fans weren’t too pleased with the idea. Gold is the only form of reward in Sea of Thieves and it’s used to purchase new gear. All of the items on offer are prohibitively expensive and losing gold just for dying would really hurt.

Another problem with forcing players to pay gold upon a death is that it would deter them from exploring or experimenting. Seeing as though Sea of Thieves is a sandbox game, stopping players exploring and experimenting isn’t a great idea.

In response to the negative feedback, executive producer Joe Neate tweeted that the Death Cost was “dead.” You can view his tweet below.

Sea of Thieves has had a stormy launch with review scores varying wildly. 

In my first impressions, I thought it was a welcome return to form for Rare, but whether it holds up over time remains to be seen.

Look for our full review to be published soon.