Sea of Thieves gets some of that Destiny 2 drip as Sony and Microsoft play happy families

Rare's Sea of Thieves, the live service pirate-em-up and one of Microsoft's great Game Pass stalwarts, has announced a new collaboration with Bungie's Destiny 2. This must be a funny feeling for Bungie, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2000 and made its name with the Xbox-exclusive Halo games, before going independent in 2007, and finally being acquired by Sony in 2022.

The Lightbearer cosmetics set brings various Destiny-themed items to the open seas, including new ship flags, liveries, costumes like the Drifter's outfit, gun skins, and even the option to have one of Destiny's ghosts (the chatty little hoverbot things) hanging off the bow. Everything can be picked up via the in-game Pirate Emporium.

Sea of Thieves launched in 2018 on Xbox and PC, and finally made the jump to PlayStation in April last year. This is part of a wider strategic shift by Microsoft, which has said it plans to release certain first party games on PlayStation, such as Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (albeit with an exclusivity window). Sony isn't quite ready to respond in-kind with PlayStation exclusives on Xbox, though it does now release the majority of its first party titles on PC.

"Even though it might not seem like an obvious choice, Destiny’s classes and co-operative play presented a ‘crew-like’ bond that we thought was a great fit," said Rare's Adam Park, "along with some striking iconography, vivid art style and a sense of being mythical in tone and scope.”

Microsoft's official announcement says this has been in the works since 2023. "From the earliest concept sketches to finalising designs that honoured both universes, every step challenged us to think differently," said Rare's Andria Warren. "We explored how iconic Destiny elements could be reimagined through a Sea of Thieves lens, translating tone, visual language, and character into something that felt fresh but unmistakably faithful. The result is something we’re truly proud of!"

Sea of Thieves is currently in the midst of season 15, but the last time I played it was essentially the same game it's always been: Larks on the high seas, and a wonderful way to blow up all your friends. Destiny 2 meanwhile has been a rollercoaster ever since launch, with a talk at the recent GDC delving into how Bungie pulled the game out of the doldrums in late 2022.