How to Add and Invite Friends in Sea of Thieves
Fill out your crew and take to the open seas by inviting friends to play Sea of Thieves on Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs.
As Rare's open-world adventure Sea of Thieves continues to push into uncharted waters, more and more players have become interested in checking out what mysteries lay beyond the title's virtual shores. More than a game of simple exploration, Sea of Thieves is an experience that's firmly rooted in cooperative gameplay, meaning sailors would be wise to bring along their closest and most reliable companions. However, the game's reliance on the Windows 10 Xbox app has left many scratching their heads, as the process of adding and inviting friends isn't what most gamers would call straightforward. Fret not, for we've got all the details players need to know in order to add and invite their friends and play Sea of Thieves together.
How to Add Friends on Windows 10 Xbox App
PC players who want to get up with their companions to play Sea of Thieves first need to make sure that they've added said companions as friends through the Windows 10 Xbox application. The process is outlined over on the Xbox support website, but the steps are fairly straightforward, so we've featured them below.
• First, open and sign in to the Windows 10 Xbox app.
• On the Home screen, locate the Friends section, then type in the username of the friend to be added.
• Select Add Friend to add the user to the friends list.
• After that, users can choose between Friend or Favorite — this selection ties into how many details the user wants to share with the added friend. It's during this step that users can also select Share my real name to make identification a little easier.
• Lastly, click OK.
It's worth mentioning that before users can send and receive Sea of Thieves invites with one another, both users must also be friends with one another — a user that has not added someone as a friend apparently will not be able to see game invites from that person.
How to Invite Friends to Play Sea of Thieves on PC
By now, PC players have hopefully added all of their friends through the Xbox application. With that out of the way, the real fun can begin. Windows 10 PC players who want to invite their friends into a Sea of Thieves session need only start up the game, then select their crew size — choose a Sloop for up to two players, or a Galleon for up to four players.
One the ship type has been chosen, a prompt will appear on screen that will allow the player to invite between 1 and 3 of their friends. Once joined, the player needs only click the Set Sail option to begin the game. If any open slots remain on the ship, the game's matchmaking system will find another player to fill the remaining slots.
Remember that once the players have set sail, they will be unable to invite their friends to join the current session. In order to bring in another crewmate, players will have to scuttle their ships and leave the current gameplay session, then create a new session and send out more invitations. Alternatively, players can reportedly click on their friend's name through the Xbox app and join the session, assuming there is a free slot in the crew that hasn't yet been filled through automatic matchmaking. It's not as simple a system as can be found in other online games, but it does seem to work well enough most of the time.
How to Invite Friends to Play Sea of Thieves on Xbox One
Thankfully, the process of inviting friends to play Sea of Thieves through the Xbox One is nearly identical to the process when playing on a PC. Players still need to make sure that they're friends with those they wish to invite, but otherwise, the procedure is simple.
In order to invite fellow Xbox One players to play Sea of Thieves, simply open the game, choose a ship size, then from the lobby screen, choose the invite option and select the friend to send an invitation to. As it is on the PC, the game will still attempt to fill out any remaining open spots left on the crew through the standard matchmaking service.
How to Add Friends While Playing Sea of Thieves
Since Sea of Thieves is a game that's inherently social, Rare has implemented a cool way for users to add strangers they meet out on the open waters. Players can toggle a prompt to add players within Sea of Thieves simply by opening the emote radial menu in front of the player to be added and choosing the "Make Friends" option. If both players use the emote, the game will bring up a menu that will allow the players to add one another without having to drop back to the Xbox application.
Find a fellow pirate on the high seas you don’t mind sharing a grog or future adventure with?
— Josh Stein (@steinekin) January 27, 2018
Just emote “Make Friends” at them and it’ll auto pop out the add-a-friend feature! #SeaOfThieves pic.twitter.com/6QeS46aQGn
If the player meets any other sailors in Sea of Thieves that they'd like to keep in mind for future crews, they can find them after the game session ends through the Xbox application. On the right-hand pane under the Find people or clubs search box, click on the down arrow next to All, then select Recent Players. Doing so will bring up a list of the players recently met in-game, and from here the user can add any of those players to their own friends list.
By now, hopefully players have a firm grasp on just how adding friends, inviting friends, and general matchmaking works in Sea of Thieves. To learn even more details about Rare's latest experience, including tips on gameplay mechanics and breakdowns of all the different beard-related errors, head over to our robust Sea of Thieves guide and walkthrough.
