Sea of Thieves ‘Death Cost’ is Dead Thanks to Player Feedback

The unpopular Sea of Thieves ‘death tax’ has been cut, according to Joe Neate, Executive Producer at Rare. The death tax, or “Death Cost” as Rare was calling it, was an upcoming feature that Rare planned to implement in Sea of Thieves in a future update. Rare first proposed this feature in their Sea of Thieves release notes last week.

The Death Cost update would have caused the Captain of the Ferry of the Damned to collect a gold fee from each player when they die, meaning players would have had to fork over a portion of their hard-earned gold every time they kicked the bucket. The death tax rates depended on the nature of how the player died, with more avoidable deaths costing more gold.

The Sea of Thieves community didn’t take kindly to the idea of a death tax. News of the forthcoming Death Cost caused an uproar of negative feedback on the game’s forums and social spaces. Gold is the in-game currency in Sea of Thieves that players must work hard to accumulate, so forcing players to part with it is no easy task.

Getting enough gold to purchase customizations is difficult enough as it is, especially for players sailing solo. Adding a financial punishment on top of that in the form of a Death Cost would likely only add an unnecessary layer of frustration to the game.

Letting everyone know we’ve heard the feedback and the proposed ‘Death Cost’ in #SeaOfThieves is, well, dead. We messed up with the messaging around this, and it’s now gone. Thanks for the honest feedback & discussion on this. https://t.co/83pYg5HPbq

— Three Sheets Neate (@JoeNeate1) March 26, 2018

In a tweet today, Neate confirmed that the Death Cost concept has officially died. “We messed up with the messaging around this, and it’s now gone,” said Neate. “Thanks for the honest feedback & discussion on this.”

Sea of Thieves players have reacted positively to the elimination of the Death Cost, as this means players won’t have to part with their gold upon death. If you’re busy trying to earn more gold in Sea of Thieves, head over to our Sea of Thieves guide and walkthrough to learn more about completing bounties in Sea of Thieves as well as how to capture chickens, pigs, and snakes in Sea of Thieves.