Sea of Thieves' new Pirates of the Caribbean expansion hides another brilliant crossover
That's the second best Easter egg I've ever seen.
Sea of Thieves has hidden a fantastic and fan-pleasing Easter egg in its new Pirates of the Caribbean expansion, A Pirate's Life.
If you're still playing the Jack Sparrow-themed adventure, this is your last chance to weigh anchor before we dive into the details (thanks, Kotaku).
THERE MAY BE SPOILERS AHEAD.
Oh my god, there's a Monkey Island crossover in Sea of Thieves.
Sure, the Easter Egg is a relatively small area, but with the official license in hand, Rare has been able to make this more than just a quick nod and a wink in a text log.
I strongly encourage any Monkey Island fan to simply play the video below and watch it all unfold, and resist getting a bit teary as a certain theme song kicks in...
It has been so long since the last Monkey Island game, and so long since Disney did anything with the license.
Of course, Disney owning both Pirates of the Caribbean and Monkey Island makes this Easter egg legally possible. But to get the music, the maps, the character names and to actually tie this area into Monkey Island's story takes people with real love for the LucasArts series. Rare has done a lovely thing here.
Monkey Island fans will note the logs from Captain Kate Capsize, the commander of a glass-bottomed boat who you encounter in Monkey Island 2. Her writings suggest she followed Guybrush Threepwood to Sea of Thieves in search of revenge for his actions in that earlier game. Could this set up more Monkey Island in Sea of Thieves in the future?
It's now more than a decade since the last Monkey Island game, and with Disney occupied with its bigger (and quite similar) Pirates of the Caribbean, fan hopes for the classic franchise's future have faded.
Back in 2016, creator Ron Gilbert issued a call for Disney to sell him the rights to Monkey Island so the series could continue elsewhere rather than sit gathering dust. That call came after Disney wound down internal game development in favour of licensing IPs out to external studios - such as with Rare's take on Pirates of the Caribbean.
For much more on A Pirate's Life, our resident Sea of Thieves sailor Matt Wales sat down with Rare's Joe Neate to delve into everything else the Pirates of the Caribbean crossover has to offer.
Deep in the Caribbean... could there be more to come for Guybrush yet?