Devolver strives to create games that reflect the work of its ‘90s Lucasarts peers – including the Monkey Island creator who, it must be said, helped define the point-and-click adventure genre. So when Ron Gilbert announced to the world that the Sea of Thieves DLC would be a Monkey Island affair, it immediately stung for those invested in seeing Gilbert’s full comeback. After all, Gilbert co-wrote the first two games as part of a team that also included fellow luminaries Dave Grossman and Tim Schafer. Gilbert himself returned, of course, in 2022 with the modern Return to Monkey Island.
Now, in a series of replies on Mastodon, Gilbert has said that he was given a heads up before the announcement, but wasn’t given the chance to meaningfully involve himself.
“I was told,” Gilbert writes. “I wasn’t asked to be part of it, which is fine because I get it. I wish them well and I love Monkey Island.”
Further questions ask if Gilbert feels like he was side-stepped because of the ownership situation with Disney (who acquired Lucasarts and all its game properties when they bought the company in 2012). Gilbert says “Disney owns the rights and can do what they want with them.”
“I wish I could be more involved,” Gilbert says, “but it’s not up to me.”
It’s not a direct quote from the source, of course – and it’s also important to stress that no new facts can be introduced in the article that aren’t already in the source article.
Sea of Thieves and Monkey Island are certainly a natural fit, and we’ll see the Sea of Thieves expansion go ahead without Gilbert. But I think it would be a stretch to argue that it’s for any reasons other than creative ones. After all, we don’t know the exact circumstance of the decision. It could very well be that Gilbert simply wasn’t a good fit for this particular Monkey Island scenario, rather than it being a matter of control of the IP.
In fact, Sea of Thieves actually takes a cartoonish, comedic approach to the life of high seas piracy that embraces “goofiness and fun” over grim, gritty realism. Even the visual styles of Sea of Thieves and Monkey Island aren’t too far apart either.
The fact remains that the expansion is going ahead without Gilbert’s involvement, and we wish it all the success in the world.
The Monkey Island expansion for Sea of Thieves is set to be released on July 20.