Highlights

  • Sea of Thieves on PS5 has already lost 58% of players since its launch in April.
  • Challenges include new player experience and competition from other popular live-service titles.
  • The Season 13 update will hopefully bring back players on PlayStation 5.

It seems that the Sea of Thieves player count on PlayStation 5 is already sinking after an initial strong launch period. Sea of Thieves is currently part of the expansion of Xbox exclusives onto other platforms, but it seems to be struggling to keep players onboard.

After over six years of exclusivity on PC and Xbox consoles, Sea of Thieves finally made its way to PlayStation 5 back in April. The game was extremely well-received on Sony's console, giving PlayStation gamers the chance to finally play one of the best pirate games on the market. It found instant popularity on the platform, and upon launch, Sea of Thieves was one of the most popular games on the PS5. Although these early numbers are impressive, Sea of Thieves is a live-service game that lives and dies on its ability to retain players over time. One report indicates it's struggling to do that at the moment.

Sea of Thieves Sitting on a throne of gold
Related
Sea Of Thieves: The Best Ways To Make Money (In 2024)

Every great pirate needs some gold or treasure in their possession, and thankfully these tips will help any crew build the best bounty.

With numbers courtesy of GameInsights tracking active PSN accounts, a report by TrueTrophies has indicated that Sea of Thieves has already lost 58% of its PlayStation 5 player base since its launch back in April. While Sea of Thieves is still topping PlayStation sales charts, the live-service title is clearly having some issues retaining players at the moment, with no sign of the decline stabilizing, according to the report.

Sea of Thieves Loses 58% Of Its PS5 Player Base

While it's difficult to put it down to one particular reason for the drop in players, it's certainly possible to speculate. First, a natural drop in player count from launch should always be expected for most games. On top of this, PlayStation 5 players are jumping into Sea of Thieves after six years of constant updates, which can make joining for the first time a daunting task. It's possible the new player experience is proving too much for some players, which is fair. Then, there's the recent launch of other popular live-service games on PS5 such as XDefiant and MultiVersus, which could draw players' attention away from Sea of Thieves.

Despite the player retention problems for Sea of Thieves on PlayStation 5, the game has plenty for players to get excited about. At the recent Xbox Games Showcase, Rare gave players a glimpse at Sea of Thieves Season 13, which will allow players to become villains for the first time. Rare has done a great job at keeping players engaged with new content so far, so hopefully the release of Season 13 will bring more PlayStation 5 players back onboard.