Sea of Thieves Fully Playable Now on PS5 via Early Access

If you’ve pre-ordered the Premium Edition for Sea of Thieves off the PS Store, your seafaring quest can now begin on PS5 via five days of early access ahead of the official release date. Making its first appearance on Sony hardware, Rare brought its servers online for PS5 players, allowing them to get started on plundering islands and sailing the seas. This means PlayStation users can play the last few days of Season 11, before the next one starts on the official release date of 30th April 2024.

You’ll need a Microsoft account to play Sea of Thieves on PS5, and you’ll be guided through an account linking process when you first boot up the game. If you want to carry over your progress from a previous playthrough on Xbox or PC, you must correctly associate the two profiles you want because this is a permanent decision. “Be sure to use the correct Microsoft account, as the two accounts chosen to be associated cannot be changed later,” an FAQ on the Sea of Thieves website warns.

From there, you’ll appear in-game with your Microsoft account name and gain access to the Recent Players tab listing both the PSN IDs and Microsoft gamertags of the pirates you meet on your travels. “Cross-platform play is enabled by default, ensuring that all new players joining High Seas will find their home on the waves with other players from all walks of life. Players on PlayStation 5, however, can choose to disable crossplay from Matchmaking Settings and only matchmake with others on PlayStation Network.”

The game will run at 4K and utilise 60 frames-per-second, but there’s also a Performance Mode option for those with 120hz TVs. This setting drops the resolution to 1080p. The PS5 DualSense controller also sees some love in Sea of Thieves, with the adaptive triggers “leveraging unique qualities of the controller [to] heighten the gunplay experience”. Then, haptic feedback will simulate interactions with the world and movement.

Are you getting started with Sea of Thieves today or will you wait for the full release on 30th April? Share your plans in the comments below.