Gold Hoarders

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Lore & Background

The Gold Hoarders operate on a simple premise: treasure is meant to be found and sold. Their voyages are distinct from other factions as they focus entirely on retrieval rather than combat or delivery of goods. When players accept these quests, they are handed tools of discovery—maps that reveal the location of buried gold or riddles that require deduction to solve. The ultimate goal is to locate the corresponding treasure chest, often hidden in caves or beneath islands, and transport it safely to an outpost. While the Gold Hoarders themselves do not offer combat challenges like the Order of Souls, their voyages frequently attract hostile players or skeleton crews guarding the loot. Success depends on a crew's ability to navigate the open world, avoid detection by enemies, and defend their cargo during the return journey. The faction maintains representatives at every outpost, ensuring that any pirate with a chest has a buyer waiting.

In Their Own Story

The map crinkled in the captain's hand as he traced the X marking the spot on the island's northern ridge. His crew moved in silence, swords drawn but ears tuned to the distant roar of a skeleton ship approaching from the horizon. They reached the buried chest just as the first cannonball struck the shoreline nearby. "Move it!" the quartermaster shouted, hoisting the heavy crate onto his shoulder. The sprint back to the sloop was frantic, the weight of the gold pulling at their muscles while enemy fire rained down around them. Once aboard, they patched a hole in the hull and bailed out the water before setting sail for the nearest outpost. There, the Gold Hoarders representative inspected the lock, nodded with satisfaction, and counted out the doubloons that would fund their next voyage.

Reader's Guide

To engage with the Gold Hoarders, players must first visit a representative at any outpost to accept a voyage. Upon acceptance, they receive either a map or a riddle indicating the location of a treasure chest. The crew then sails to the specified island, locates the chest, and carries it back to an outpost for sale. Selling these chests grants gold and reputation points specific to the Gold Hoarders faction. Accumulating enough reputation unlocks higher-tier voyages that may offer more valuable loot or challenging locations. It is important to note that while selling treasure earns gold, this currency can only be used to purchase cosmetic items such as ship upgrades, costumes, and emotes; it does not provide statistical advantages in gameplay. Players should remain vigilant during their journey, as the shared world means other crews may attempt to steal their cargo or sink their ship before they reach safety.

Did You Know?

• The Gold Hoarders do not offer combat challenges; their voyages focus entirely on locating treasure chests using maps or riddles.
• Selling a treasure item while in an alliance grants the selling crew full gold and reputation, while allied crews receive a percentage (typically 50%) of the gold value — but no reputation is earned by allied crews.
• The game's progression system unlocks not only cosmetic items from trading companies like the Gold Hoarders, but also commendations, titles, and gameplay-related items such as higher-tier voyages.
• Sea of Thieves had over 40 million players by June 2024, but it was not Microsoft's most successful original IP of the eighth generation.
• The game was released on PlayStation 5 on April 30, 2024, making it Rare's first title to appear on a Sony console.

Origins and Design Philosophy

The Gold Hoarders exist within a game concept conceived by Rare in 2014, inspired by players of Eve Online, DayZ, and Rust who created their own stories using game tools. The development team initially explored settings like vampires and dinosaurs before settling on the pirate theme, drawing inspiration from Pirates of the Caribbean and The Goonies. A key design decision was to implement a progression system that unlocks only cosmetic items as players complete voyages for companies like the Gold Hoarders. This approach ensured that both casual and experienced players could play together without one group having a significant advantage over the other. Rare departed from its reputation for secrecy by inviting over 30,000 players into an Insider's Program to test early builds, using their feedback to refine how crews interact with trading companies and each other.

Core Gameplay Mechanics

Gold Hoarders voyages are a central part of the first-person action-adventure gameplay in Sea of Thieves. Players assume the role of pirates who complete these specific quests by finding treasure chests via maps or riddles. The game takes place in a shared world where groups frequently encounter one another, leading to naval battles or temporary alliances. When a crew sells a Gold Hoarder chest at an outpost, they receive gold and reputation points. If they form an alliance with other players before selling, all members share the reward, though each receives only half the normal value of the item. Ship operation is critical; crews must manage roles like steering, cannonning, and bailing water if their vessel takes damage from enemy fire or the environment.

Evolution from Launch to Service

Sea of Thieves launched in March 2018 for Windows and Xbox One as one of the earliest first-party titles on Xbox Game Pass. While initial reviews were mixed due to perceived lack of content, the Gold Hoarders remained a staple of the core gameplay loop. Rare adopted a 'game as a service' model, releasing numerous updates that improved reception over time. These updates included new features like Tall Tales and competitive modes such as Hourglass, which replaced the removed Arena mode in Season 9. By April 2024, the game had attracted more than 40 million players, becoming Microsoft's most successful original intellectual property of the eighth generation.

Legacy and Future Prospects

The Gold Hoarders continue to be a vital part of Sea of Thieves as it expands to new platforms. A native Xbox Series X/S version was released on March 13, 2024, followed by a PlayStation 5 release on April 30, 2024, marking Rare's first game on a PlayStation console. The title remains the final project directed by Gregg Mayles before his departure in 2025. Looking ahead, a live-action film adaptation was reported to be in development as of June 2026, with Destin Daniel Cretton producing, further cementing the franchise's reach beyond gaming.