Lucid Games joins forces with Rare for Sea of Thieves

Liverpool-based studio Lucid Games has announced it will be working alongside Rare on the development of Sea of Thieves.

The details:

• Lucid Games, known for its 2019 vehicular combat game Destruction AllStars, has announced that it has partnered up with Rare for the ongoing development of Sea of Thieves.
• It’s unclear exactly what Lucid will be working on, but the studio has previously provided support to EA for Apex Legends, EA Sports PGA Tour, and the Google Stadia (RIP) port of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
• There’s already speculation that the move to bring Lucid into the development cycle was done to allow Rare to reduce its workload, opening up opportunities for other projects. Resources will most likely be directed toward the development of its upcoming action-adventure IP "Everwild," which is scheduled for release in 2024.
• The studio has recently opened up some more positions based in its Liverpool offices or working remotely in the UK. You can find all of the openings on its careers site.

What’s the latest at Rare’s parent company, Microsoft?

• Xbox has released an update to insiders and later to the public that will allow players to reduce carbon emissions caused by their consoles when in standby mode. The update will provide users with a power-saving shutdown mode that will use information from their local area to schedule updates for when your power grid is using more renewable energy instead of fossil fuels. This change will allegedly reduce carbon emissions by up to 20 times compared to the existing sleep mode.
• Microsoft’s attempt at purchasing Activision-Blizzard is still underway despite the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) disapproval of the deal. Sources from Reuters say that the European Commission, the European Union’s anti-trust watchdog, will also object to the purchase soon, with a deadline of April 11.
• Xbox will be hosting a showcase alongside Bethesda titled Developer_Direct on January 25. The show will include upcoming games such as Redfall, Minecraft Legends, Forza Motorsport, and The Elder Scrolls Online. Starfield is confirmed to be absent from the show, with a standalone show focused on Bethesda’s new RPG coming soon.