Greetings, everyone! With the recent release of the LEGO Ideas "Pirates of Barracuda Bay," which homages the many years of pirate themes created by LEGO, I couldn't help but imagine what it would look like to unify the creative forces and sandbox experiences that LEGO and Sea of Thieves have to offer.
And so, armed with some time spent in-game for reference material, plus my mediocre LEGO design skills and the LEGO Digital Designer program, I created a quartet of simple models to demonstrate what the Sea of Thieves might look like in LEGO form!
New item by Blam 320
To accompany this, I wanted to also give a little "elevator pitch" for why I think genuine, licensed Sea of Thieves LEGO sets would do well.
First, the LEGO Group is well-versed in creating products based on video games. LEGO already has a very successful relationship with Microsoft via the ongoing Minecraft line, which is constantly iterating on itself as the game updates, and as LEGO's engineers devise new ways to bring those gameplay features to life. Funnily enough, the Minecraft line began as a LEGO Ideas project, itself (back when the site was called "LEGO CUUSOO"), created by Mojang. Later this year, LEGO will be releasing a line of toys based on the Mario Bros games, integrating smart technology to allow builders to "play" a game of Super Mario with the physical bricks. A similar philosophy can be applied to Sea of Thieves; sets representing ships can have a number of features, including adjustable sails and a raising capstan, while other sets can highlight the traps players will encounter during Tall Tales.
Secondly, Sea of Thieves is the perfect license to expand on LEGO's pirate theme. As it stands, the last time LEGO produced sets for their existing, non-licensed pirate line was 2015. Since 1989, the non-licensed pirate theme has followed the same general formula: a cadre of pirates searching for treasure battles a generic "royal/imperial navy" to keep it, with builds reflecting the simple dichotomy (the pirates' ship(s) and island hideouts vs the navy's forts). Sea of Thieves expands the possibilities, with multiple distinct styles using just the base game as an example. The Skeletons are ramshackle yet imposing, while each world region offers a unique atmosphere. This is multiplied exponentially by the range of cosmetics available in-game for pirate and their ships.
This wide array of customization in-game would reflect in a highly modular product line, enabling builders to re-create their favorite loadouts and locations, or even make their own.
Thirdly, the intended LEGO and Sea of Thieves experiences are a perfect match for each other. LEGO thrives on builders telling stories using their sets as the medium, while the core of Sea of Thieves is going on a thrilling pirate adventure with your friends, where nobody quite knows what the session will bring. LEGO sets could bring these fun experiences to life in new ways, with builds representing the players diving down into a shipwreck, narrowly escaping the Megalodon, or, as pictured here, finding a cursed Mermaid statue while on a Bounty Quest for the Order of Souls, among countless other possibilities. As an added bonus, the whimsical nature of Sea of Thieves couples remarkably well with the cartoonish style of LEGO.
Lastly, I personally feel that Sea of Thieves can really benefit from having an expanded line of real-life merchandize. I love the game, and I want to support it, but I would like to go beyond in-game cosmetics. The T-shirts are nice, but there's a very distinct lack of "collector's" items. LEGO sets solve this: they're a very tangible method of putting your love for the game on full display, while also enabling a nearly infinite ability to mix-and-match in order to create the perfect representation.
TLDR: I created a bunch of Sea of Thieves-inspired models in LEGO Digital Designer, and I thought I'd pitch the idea.
Thanks for checking this out, and fair winds be with ye!
