Sea of Thieves ' 14th season is almost upon us; Rare has confirmed it'll be bringing a whole bunch of new stealthy treats to its multiplayer pirate adventure on 17th October. When last we heard hints of Season 14, it was all the way back in March, when Rare laid out its content plans for 2024 . And while today's release date announcement was a little light on specifics - a proper season breakdown video is scheduled to arrive soon - we do at least have some idea of what it'll bring thanks to that early showing.

As per March's roadmap, Season 14 is all about introducing a stealthier, more mischievous style of play to Sea of Thieves, with new additions - assuming plans haven't dramatically changed - set to include a crouch ability, plus the power to hang off the side of ships, even stuff yourself into a chest and scuttle around undetected. That's on top of a new multi-purpose blow dart that's able to lure skeletons to specific positions, trigger bamboozling sound effects, and more, as well as the ability to place spring traps in the world. Most excitingly of all, though, pirates will be able to whizz about the place (or reel stuff in) using the new grappling gun tool.

The grappling gun is the one of the few parts of Season 14 that did get a proper mention during Rare's latest news showcase , with production director Drew Stevens outlining some of the limitations Rare has put in place to make it fairer for smaller crews. Essentially, pirates won't be able to use the grappling gun.