One of the most unexpected announcements at the Xbox Games Showcase was the reveal of a crossover between Rare’sSea of Thievesand theMonkey Islandseries of adventure games. While many viewers were surprised to see the two seafaring franchises coming together for the new campaign content, none were likely as surprised asMonkey Islandcreator Ron Gilbert, who apparently had no idea about the impendingSea of ThievesandMonkey Islandcrossover.
LucasArts' acclaimedMonkey Islandseries of adventure games debuted in 1990 with the release ofThe Secret of Monkey Islandon PC. Designed byManiac Mansioncreator Ron Gilbert, the hilarious point-and-click adventure game became a hit with players and spawned a series of sequels over the following years. Returning to the franchise in 2022 for the first time since leaving LucasArts 30 years earlier, Gilbert headed up the production of developer Terrible Toybox’s generally well-receivedReturn of Monkey Island. FollowingReturn to Monkey Island’s release, it was rumored that the classicLucasfilm adventure gameManiac Mansioncould be next in line for a sequel.
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As pointed out by retro gaming site Time Extension, a new post on a game development Mastodon server reveals that news ofSea of Thieves’ upcomingThe Legend of Monkey Islandcrossover came as a surprise toMonkey Islandcreator Ron Gilbert. Responding to a post from a Mastodon user who expressed excitement about the nautical mashup and inquired whether theMonkey Islandcreator was involved in the soon-to-be-released crossover, Gilbert replied “Nope. Wasn’t even told about it. Happened behind my back.” The fact that Gilbert doesn’t have ownership over the rights toMonkey Islandmeans that Lucasfilm doesn’t need his consent for the crossover, but it’s still surprising to see the creator of the iconic franchise being left in the dark about the project’s existence.
Mastodon users responding to Gilbert not being told aboutThe Legend of Monkey Islandcoming toSea of Thievesexpressed a mixture of surprise and disappointment, with one user posting “Wow…so you found out today like the rest of us?” Another reply shared their sadness at the news but noted that they weren’t surprised since the crossover campaign takes place in a different timeline than 2022’sReturn to Monkey Island. Set to release on July 20, the crossover sees players helping a now run-down and washed-up Governor Guybrush Threepwood thwart a plan by the villainous undead pirate, LeChuck.
While Lucasfilm was under no obligation to seek Ron Gilbert’s approval or involvement for theSea of ThievesandMonkey Islandcrossover, it’s disappointing to see the iconic designer being left out of the loop. With thenext 5 years ofSea of Thievescontentalready in the works, hopefully no other creators find themselves facing a similar surprise anytime soon.
Sea of Thievesis available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
