When Rare launchedSea of Thievesin March 2018, it established a pirate code of conduct meant to curb bigotry, prejudicial play, and other forms of toxicity. The title has grown considerably since then, but many prominentSea of Thievesstreamers feel that Rare’s best-laid plans for behavioral standards have been scuttled.
Sea of Thieveswas designed with emergent play in mind, and the developers established a Partner Program to encourage players to use the game as a platform to develop unique styles not necessarily governed by the game’s mechanics. The developer has also been largely receptive to player requests, adding much-desired features such as private servers as well as a steady stream of content updates.
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However, an online game about piracy withover 15 million playerswas a likely magnet for trolls, and certain players feel that Rare has done little to intervene in cases of harassment, according to Kotaku. Now several popular Twitch streamers, including SayHeyRocco, Carrillo, Jason Sulli, and GullibleGambit have announced that they are jumping ship, citing Rare’s inaction in addressing toxicity. They have even accused Rare of providing a platform to players who normalized certain inappropriate behaviors.
Lazar has called out players who criticized his conduct, leading his fans to subsequently harass those players on social media. Lazar has also reportedly used tactics to infiltrate alliance servers, a practice that has been compared tostream sniping in games likeFortnite, which has the potential to completely unbalance competitive, spectated games.
Tensions were reignited between streamers in July after the husband and wife duo who manage the streaming puppet personality, Rocco, were doxxed by a targeted harassment campaign. Rocco’s creators have since leftSea of Thieves' Partner Program, prompting several other streamers — some of whom have faced bigotry and harassment as well — to follow suit. Arguably, thetrends of harassment in play are partially a Twitch problem, as much as an issue withSea of Thievesitself.
Rare’s relative inaction on these issues is perplexing given the developer’s focus on fostering a community, and itstrack record of listening toSea of Thievesplayer complaints. Remaining neutral in a situation where people’s privacy and well-being are at risk should not be acceptable, regardless of potential controversy or backlash from the game’s player base.
Sea of Thieveshas faced issues like poor servers at launch, but got better thanks to incremental improvements. There may still be time for Rare to address community toxicity, either by censuring streamers who undermine the game’s spirit, or more stringently enforcing the game’s community guidelines.
Sea of Thievesis available now for PC, Xbox One, with a forthcoming release planned for Xbox Series X.
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