Sea of Thieves is fully playable as a solo experience, but in order to get the most of Rare’s online pirate exploration game, you’ll want to have some friends join you on the adventure. For the next week, up to three of them will be able to do so for free.
From February 6 to February 13, Sea of Thieves will be running a “Friends Play Free” program for anyone who already owns the game or has played it via Xbox Game Pass. All you have to do is go to the program’s website and you’ll get three free codes to send to any of your friends. It’s valid across Xbox One and PC, and because the game supports crossplay between the two systems, you’ll still be able to enjoy multiplayer and party chat together.
Those who redeem a code through the program will also be able to purchase Sea of Thieves permanently with a 35 percent discount from February 6 to February 27. The purchase must be digital, but it’s valid on Xbox One and PC, and the Xbox Play Anywhere program means you get access to both versions with one purchase.
During the Friends Play Free period, Sea of Thieves will also offer a limited-time Mercenary Voyage that tasks you with finding a “Rum Runner.” You’ll be rewarded with special cosmetic items for completing the Voyage. News on additional content to celebrate the game’s first anniversary on March 20 should also be coming soon.
Sea of Thieves will definitely make a better first impression if you’re playing it with people you already know, as communication as you sail across the sea and battle other players’ ships is crucial. With random players and those without microphones, you can use some nonverbal communication tools, but it makes it much more difficult. Otherwise, you’ll have to sail in a small one-person boat, which is agile but extremely vulnerable to attack from both players and non-player characters. This method also forces you to alternate between sailing and firing your cannon, rather than doing them both simultaneously.
Sea of Thieves is available now exclusively for Xbox One and PC.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.