The year is 1720 and the New World is on fire.

England, France, and Spain have unleashed their forces on the Caribbean. Naval officers captain massive warships through bloody engagements at sea. Freetraders charge through blockades and smuggle the war material needed to conquer the enemy’s ports. Privateers raid enemy shipping, looting ships of their treasure and rival nations of their glory.

Through it all sail the Pirates. Bloody, bold, and resolute, they serve no flag and heed no king. They live free, fight hard, and obey only fate.

In Pirates of the Burning Sea you choose your destiny.

Blistering Naval Combat

Maneuver your ship in real time, turning one way to unleash a broadside and then cutting back to guard your damaged armor. Drop sails and heave to while your opponent sails forward so you can fire at his vulnerable stern. Work together with your friends to choose your targets and your aim points: small, fast ships can swoop in close to rake the enemy crew with swivel guns while your bruisers blast chain shot at the enemy sails. Once you’ve crippled his ability to move, send in a boarding ship laden with armed men to grapple, board, and seize the prize.

Ship combat in Pirates of the Burning Sea has all the action, intensity, and tactical gameplay of a single-player game. Speed, direction, and facing all matter, and you fire and sail in realtime. As captain of your own ship you balance your crew, sails, armor, guns, and maneuverability, making snap decisions while planning what’s going to happen in thirty seconds. It’s a white-knuckle experience, whether against determined NPCs or wily players.

Savage Swashbuckling

Our swashbuckling system is something you’ve never seen in an MMO before. Hundreds of handmade animations capture every bold gesture in three fighting styles. Whether you go for traditional Fencing, or the dual-wielding showmanship known as Florentine, or the treachery of Dirty Fighting, your very stance will display your chosen mastery and your every move will be distinct. Every combat skill is uniquely animated with corresponding responses and fighting is fast and fluid. Keep your Balance high and you can parry attacks; build up your Initiative to unleash powerful finishing moves; and if desperation strikes, you can whip out a pistol for a devastating attack.

Our cinematic adventures pit you against hordes of enemies, cutting your way through the thugs who stand between you and the enemy you’re here to duel. You’ll have to make fast use of skills and tactics to beat the toughest swordsmen in the Burning Sea!

PvP-Conquerable World

The Caribbean of 1720 is home to many dozens of ports belonging to the three great powers: Britain, France, and Spain. Each port is a valuable source of goods, equipment, and mission patrons. Players use PvE missions to destabilize a port, making it eligible for conquest by their nation. With enough players keeping up the pressure, the conquest mode begins and the ocean for many leagues around the port becomes an open PvP environment. This unlocks new PvE missions to smuggle in supplies, destroy fortifications, and tilt the odds in your favor. Scheduled PvP battles culminate in a final conflict to either save the port or conquer it.

Every day, each nation receives victory points on the basis of its port holdings. The first nation to reach the goal is declared the victor, and celebrations and awards ensue. Then treaties are signed, ports revert to their original sides, and a new round of conflict begins.

Sophisticated Missions

Our mission system gives you a starring role in your own epic. Each player accumulates a personal supporting cast of NPCs, including old enemies, new friends, lost loves, and treacherous allies. No two players have the same cast, and their stories will take them to different places and fight in different battles. And since each NPC can have multiple roles, the pirate who is your arch-nemesis may be the good friend and ally of an enemy player. Your long-lost cousin may turn out to be your best friend’s sweetheart – or a treacherous spy! We bring the plot twists and the bold adventure of classic adventure fiction to life every time you play.

Ship battles aren’t just spawn camps. Our AI personalities and dynamic goals ensure that no two battles are alike. Unexpected reinforcements, nighttime stealth missions, and secondary objectives mean you get gameplay as intricate as any handcrafted single-player game level.

Dramatic Avatars

You don’t have to look like everyone else. Our avatars are built with sixteen customizable slots. Choose hair, faces, footwear, hands, coats, hats, belts, jewelry, and much more, selecting from a library of parts and textures and assigning the colors you want. Most games with customizable avatars use flat gray textures that are then customized with flat, featureless colors. Our full-color customizable textures mean we start with gorgeous, photographic color and then apply your custom shades selectively, preserving details such as gold buttons, fabric coarseness, or bloodstains while still allowing for tremendous creative freedom. And of course, you can choose from the eyepatches, hook hands, and peg legs that every pirate craves.

Action For Every Play Style

Whether your interest is in ship combat, piracy, commercial trading, or adventure, you have a role to play, and all your adventures take place in a dramatic world of conflict and change. A dynamic commodities market provides opportunity for clever traders to turn coin, navy missions throw you into the thick of combat, and pirates have ample targets for plunder. Our strategic gameplay keeps the world in flux, offering ample opportunities for both PvE missions and PvP battles & ambushes to affect the ongoing struggle. The Caribbean of 1720 is a world at war, and all players can take part on their own terms. Whether you want to join a major port conquest battle, pursue smuggling missions to help your side in secret, or organize your guildmates to bolster a port’s defenses in the face of enemy plotting, your efforts are meaningful and the stakes are high!