Sea of Thieves Patch Notes | Season 20: Custom Seas
Sea of Thieves 3.8.1 adds Free Camera emotes, a Pirate Practice preset, and Custom Seas balance changes. The complete Season 20: Custom Seas changelog.
When is the next update?
Sea of Thieves rolls to its next season around September 17, 2026.
3.8.1 — July 23, 20265 changes
The Sea of Thieves 3.8.1 patch notes land during Season 20: Custom Seas, adding Free Camera emotes, an official Pirate Practice preset, and a round of Custom Seas balance tuning. Track the live Sea of Thieves season countdown to Season 20’s close.
TL;DR — 5 changes: 0 buffs, 1 nerf. Biggest addition: the Pirate Practice preset for drilling World Events and naval combat. Biggest nerf: Bone Caller-summoned skeleton counts now scale down against smaller ships. Meta impact: Custom Seas hosts get a purpose-built practice mode and finer combat controls, while Bone Caller spam against small crews is reined in.
Mechanics
- Free Camera — players can now choose an emote and perform it while retaining full Free Camera controls active
- Pirate Practice — new official Preset giving quick access to a setup built for drilling World Events and naval battles active
- Join Codes — digits now stay hidden on-screen when entering a Join Code, preventing shoulder-surfing active
- Bone Caller — summoned skeleton count now scales with the size of the ship it’s thrown at, instead of a fixed amount nerf
Events & Limited Time
- Last Ship Standing — the battle area shrinks further as a match closes active
All Sea of Thieves patches
| Version | Date | Season | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.8.1 | July 23, 2026 | Season 20: Custom Seas | 5 changes: 0 buffs, 1 nerf. Biggest addition: the Pirate Practice preset for drilling World Events and naval combat. Biggest nerf: Bone Cal… |