Sea of Thieveshas become the biggest pirate-themed video game of this generation, letting players explore the seven seas across Xbox, PC, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. Nowhere else is this more evident than in its most recent free expansion,Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life, which introduced characters and locations from Disney’s massivePirates of the Caribbeanfranchise, referencing both the films and theme park ride. It turns out, Rare wasn’t satisfied just bringingPirates of the Caribbeancontent to the game, as fans have found a wonderful reference to LucasArts' belovedMonkey Islandfranchise in the new expansion.
The Secret of Monkey Islandwas first released in 1990 for PC platforms such as the Amiga, MS DOS, and Atari ST. The game was developed by Lucasfilm Games (later known as LucasArts), directed by Ron Gilbert, and written and designed by Gilbert, Dave Grossman, and Tim Schafer. Grossman would later go on to found Telltale Games while Schafer went on to found Double Fine Productions,the studio behindPsychonautsandBrutal Legendthat was acquired by Microsoft in 2019.
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Unfortunately, when The Walt Disney Company purchased Lucasfilm in 2012, it closed LucasArts and seemingly killed theMonkey Islandfranchise. While even creator Ron Gilbert has not been able to get Disney’s attention, it seems Rare has gotten Disney’s blessing to use theMonkey Islandfranchise for Sea of Thieves as players have discovered the remains of a ship helmed by Captain Kate Capsize, a character that pirate protagonist Guybrush Threepwood briefly interacts with inMonkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge.It appears that Kate was out for revenge against Threepwood after the player frames her for a crimein order to solve a puzzle inMonkey Island 2, however she was unsuccessful and died in the sea of thieves.
This is an ingenious bit of lore added by Rare that is topped off by the beautiful rendition of theMonkey Islandtheme song that’s sure to tug at longtime fans' emotions. What this could mean for futureMonkey Islandcontent in Sea of Thieves remains to be seen, it could be possible that Double Fine is planning to team up with Rare and Disney to addMonkey Islandstory content toSea of Thieves. This could be looking too deeply into a heartfelt tribute for bothMonkey IslandandSea of Thievesfans. Regardless, it’s nice to finally seeSea of Thievespay tribute tothe previous generation-defining pirate game before it.
Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Lifeis available now for PC, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
