October has just arrived, and inevitably brings with it Halloween and the anticipation of gaming events given a certain graveyard twist. Sea of Thieves is set to continue this tradition with its next Monthly Content Update – Fort of the Damned, a challenging event arriving on Wednesday October 16th, echoing last year’s popular Festival of the Damned.
These are chilling times indeed, but thankfully many Sea of Thieves players will be sailing into October with hearts warmed by the pets introduced in our previous Monthly Content Update. September saw Smuggler’s Fortune throw open the doors to the Pirate Emporium, putting furry and feathered friends on sale for the first time.
A huge 98% of people who’ve spent Ancient Coins (Sea of Thieves’ new premium currency) so far have picked up a pet. Parrots have just pipped monkeys to the post as early Pirate Emporium favourites with 52.4% of sales, with the Parakeet the most popular pet breed overall, and Blue Moon Parakeet the most popular of these; of the monkeys, the White Beard Capuchin has been our players’ top pick.
Of course, all this variety in pets is nothing compared to the variety in pet names, so if you’re curious about what most people are calling their Sea of Thieves parrots and monkeys, here’s the current combined top 10:
- Jack
- Rafiki
- Polly
- Blue
- Mango
- George
- Luna
- Steve
- Shadow
- Bob
Disney-inspired monkey names have naturally proven popular, with Rafiki in second place and Abu very narrowly missing the top 10. There have also been 177 Jack Sparrows and 120 Barbossas, inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean – in fact, fans with a good memory might wonder if a certain iconic line is the reason why Jack took the number one spot.
Names inspired by Sea of Thieves developers and Rare’s rich gaming history also surfaced quickly. Antonio was sure to do well, following our Pirate Emporium preview stream and the monkey who stole the show by having a little incident on host Jon’s shoulder:
- 153 pets named Joe Neate
- 136 pets named Kazooie
- 70 pets called Antonio
- 70 pets called Donkey Kong
Names inspired by general pop culture proved similarly popular:
- 340 pets named Harambe (the gorilla)
- 248 pets named Winston (Overwatch)
- 233 pets named Marcel (Friends)
- 149 pets named Curious George (the character)
- 118 pets named Marty McFly (Back to the Future)
- 94 pets named Loki (Marvel’s Avengers/Norse mythology)
- 48 pets named Pidgey (Pokémon)
Pets seem to have captured the imagination of content creators too, something that we’re keen to embrace with programmes like the Sea of Thieves Creator Crew, also launched last month. Much-loved Twitter account @CanYouPetTheDog quickly gathered 68k likes (and counting) on a clip demonstrating how pets can be fired out of cannons. Meanwhile, popular Sea of Thieves content creator Captain Falcore produced a helpful guide to pets and all things Pirate Emporium, while honouring Antonio the monkey’s moment of glory – just like this fan-made T-shirt featured in Sea of Thieves’ thriving Design by Humans Fan Shop.
Fans are encouraged to keep sharing these fantastic screenshots and clips, with a new social competition aimed at showcasing the best! Submit your best pet pic or clip by tagging @SeaOfThieves on Twitter or @RareLtd on Instagram and including the hashtag #PetsOfThieves. Five winners will be chosen to win the Bird & Bear Collector’s Edition Figurehead and Sails! The competition is live now, running until 00:00 BST on October 16th. For more information, see the terms and conditions here.
Find out more about Fort of the Damned on the official Sea of Thieves website and social channels. Fort of the Damned is free for all players who bought Sea of Thieves on the Xbox One family of devices or on Windows 10 PC, or who have access to it as part of Xbox Game Pass. This update arrives on Wednesday October 16th and will bring new additions to the Pirate Emporium and Black Market too – pet fans should watch out for a spooky surprise!
New to Sea of Thieves? Join the adventure with Xbox Game Pass or on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC. If you haven’t tried Xbox Game Pass yet, join today to get your first month for $1 and get access to over 100 great games, with new titles being added all of the time. Prospective pirates can learn more at xbox.com/seaofthieves or visit SeaofThieves.com to embark on an epic journey with one of gaming’s most welcoming communities.
See the rest of the story on Xbox Wire
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