The closed beta for Microsoft's pirate adventure Sea of Thieves, has officially started. Until January 29th, ordinary sailors and captains can try out the life of a pirate in the Caribbean. After that there is a little wind lull until the release on March 20th.

Sea of Thieves - 5 days of pirate life

Closed beta access is available to Founder members who joined the Sea of Thieves Insider Program before December 1st and for Pre-order of the game.

Did you play through the Xbox or Windows Store pre-ordered, the game and thus the beta should automatically appear in your games category. From there you can download and install it

If you pre-order through a third party, you have to redeem the “Black Dog” code for the package in order for the game to appear.

The developers have under https://support.seaofthieves.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360000081387-Closed-Beta-Install-Instructions-PC-Xbox-and-Pre-Order a complete page with all instructions and help is provided.

In the beta, the complete game will not be available, the developers have put together an all-round package. This allows you to experience almost all facets of the game and face everyday life as a pirate. However, the designers save a few surprises for the finished game.

There is none for the closed beta NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement - confidentiality obligation). So you can stream your gaming experiences unchecked or put YouTube videos etc. online and share them with your friends.

The Closed beta trailer about Sea of Thieves can be found at the beginning of the article. The game will be released on March 20th for PC and Xbox One.