Community Spotlight - Captain Peachy

“A plump pirate with a thirst for gold who will steal your loot and your pork chops” is how Captain Peachy describes himself to the world. After having great success with #SoTShot entries and his innovative Sea of Thieves synchronised swimming video that we nabbed for our own TikTok (with permission of course, we’re not full-blown pirates), we took some time to catch up with this creative force.

[Q]: Can you tell us a little about what got you into gaming?

[A]: My older brother got me into it! I don’t have the best memory of it, but I remember playing lots of Super Mario Bros. 2 on his NES. I was eventually gifted consoles like the GameCube, PS1, PS2 and Wii which fuelled my adventure into the world of gaming!

I think what drew me to gaming in the first place was that it felt like a new adventure each time I picked up that controller. I think that’s why I love to sail the Sea of Thieves so much, every time I set sail I never know what the day will bring.

[Q]: Were you a Rare fan before Sea of Thieves? Do you have any favourite Rare games?

[A]: Not that I'm aware of! I believe my first interaction with a Rare game was Viva Piñata on the Xbox 360 when it was available free on Games with Gold. I'm not sure how I didn’t pick up any amazing Rare titles like Banjo-Kazooie or Perfect Dark but I plan on playing through them someday soon.

As it stands, Sea of Thieves is my #1 favorite Rare game. But who knows, maybe when I get the chance to play the classics, a new game will come out on top!

[Q]: What other games are you currently playing? Any favourites?

[A]: I’ve been playing lots of Halo Infinite, Grounded and Deep Rock Galactic. All of these are games I’d highly recommend if you want to just hop on and have a blast with your friends! My favorite one I’ve been enjoying going through again recently is Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. It’s been a huge nostalgia trip playing through it again and I’m currently trying to get 100% on it.

[Q]: What brought you over to Sea of Thieves and its community?

[A]: Getting into Sea of Thieves was one of my happiest accidents! I didn’t see any of the trailers or demos before release, then one day it just popped up on Xbox Game Pass and my friends and I gave it a shot. As soon as I booted up the game I was in love with it. I didn’t know how to do anything or what anything was, but I had so much fun figuring it all out with my crew.

After experiencing The Hungering Deep later that year I started up an Instagram account to share some of my favorite moments with people. I fell in love with the community after reading other pirates tell tales of their adventures and meeting so many friendly faces that I still sail with to this day! Sea of Thieves has some of the most wholesome and dedicated community members I’ve seen in a game.

[Q]: How did you feel when we shared your synchronised swimmers on TikTok, and what’s the story behind it?

[A]: I was unbelievably excited to see you wanted to put it up on TikTok for pirates far and wide to experience! The happiness of the crew involved in the film that day was a standout moment I’ll remember for a long time, alongside the joy of finding the surprise you left in our Clothing Chests!

The film was a fun little moment we had after taking our Competitive Corsairs #SoTShot. We had collected a few Tridents to create swim lanes, but after the shot I arranged them in a circle to create a target for us to try and land in using a cannon. Fishhook Cook brought up the idea of synchronized swimming inside the circle, so we took a break from our cannon shenanigans and did our best to put on a performance! It was really difficult to get all three of us to spin in sync and I don’t think we ever got it exactly perfect, but It was extremely close!

[Q]: Your #SoTShot contest entries have been featured many times – how did you get into in-game photography?

[A]: It started as just a passion to share fun moments with people and show off the beauty of games, and it still is. Photos can be worth a thousand words, so sharing those and viewing other people’s photos is exciting!

#SoTShot has been one of my favorite things to participate in every month and definitely encourages my creativity. I really enjoy coming together with the crew and planning out days to hang out and make our photos come to life. Even if we don’t get a winning shot, I love sitting down and viewing the winning ones. There are a lot of talented photographers on the seas. The most important thing about in-game photography to me is to have fun while capturing those moments!

[Q]: What makes a good scene/photo for you? Is there anything you plan out, or do you snap a shot when inspiration strikes?

[A]: Ooo, that’s a tough question. I think a lot of things make a good scene, like the lighting, the composition and the framing! But what really makes a good photo for me personally is the story told within it. I enjoy looking at a photo and being able to piece together emotions and events that are within it to tell a cohesive story.

Most of my shots are planned beforehand, I enjoy sitting in a call with friends and brainstorming a list of ideas that we try to make come to life, but sometimes they are taken right then and there with no prior planning at all! I think one of my favorite ‘in the moment’ shots was my winning photo for the Ferocious Foes #SoTShot theme. As we were about to go through one of the Portals of the Damned, a Kraken rose from the depths to attack our Sloop! I, of course, being the great crewmate I am, sat on the dock and took photos while my friend, “the pantsless pirate” Aurrick, screamed for help back on the ship.

[Q]: What are your favourite additions to Sea of Thieves over the past year?

[A]: You guys knocked it out of the park with last year’s Seasons! I enjoy grinding through each new Season and reaping their rewards. Season Two was my favorite Plunder Pass so far, I loved the gambling theme of the Lucky Hand set and the eyepatch became a signature part of my pirate!

I also really enjoyed the Siren Shrines and Treasuries. I thought they were an amazing way to expand the map in a new way and flush out some lore pieces!

[Q]: What are your greatest achievements in a game, Sea of Thieves or otherwise?

[A]: I think earning the Hat of Unfeasibly Glorious Fame is my greatest so far! It’s the first achievement I’ve earned that felt unique and special. I never would have imagined coming up with anything to be worthy of enough of earning it, but here I am! I also hold 100% completion of Stardew Valley high up there. That took many hard days of work.

[Q]: Thinking back, are there any standout moments for you in Sea of Thieves since you started playing?

[A]: There are so many standout moments for me in Sea of Thieves that it’s hard to choose just one! I’ve had many memorable moments of huge sea battles, shenanigans with my crewmates and much more.

But if I had to choose a standout moment it would have to be going through the Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life Tall Tales with everyone. I’m a huge Pirates of the Caribbean fan like I’m sure most of the community is, and I was hooked on those Tales! Exploring every inch of the environment, reading every journal and just sitting back and taking in the breathtaking scenery with my crewmates! I think for me, rowing through the Bayou and walking through the streets of Isla Tesoro were some of my favorite parts of the whole experience.

Those Tall Tales even inspired a trip to Disneyland with pirates Fishhook and Siren that I had met through the Sea of Thieves community and played with for over two years at that point! Any moment with this community is a beautiful one.

[Q]: If you had to choose a pirate and ship name, what would they be?

[A]: I’d have to choose the name Captain Nicholas P. Fuzz or Captain Peachy for short! My ship would be named the Royal Fortune, a reference to the shipwreck in the storm in Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

[Q]: What other hobbies do you enjoy outside of gaming?

[A]: Outside of gaming I enjoy drawing and making crafts as side hobbies. I haven’t been able to work on projects as big as I’d like recently but I’m sure they'll come in time! I also really enjoy building models and collecting gaming/media memorabilia.

[Q]: Share a fun fact about yourself. Anything is fair game!

[A]: I love listening to ’80s music! I know it’s not the most unique or interesting thing but I absolutely love anything that makes me feel like I’m in an ’80s action movie. I think I enjoy it just because of all the movies my dad showed me while I was growing up. Lots of great movies like Indiana Jones, The Karate Kid, The Goonies etc. that I could watch for the rest of my life!

That concludes our latest Community Spotlight. Thank you to Captain Peachy for taking the time to talk to the team – we look forward to seeing many more of those stories, adventures and in-game scenes shared on social channels for other players to enjoy. And if you’d like to hear more tales from all around our community, you can use our News section filters to check out all the Community Spotlights, Creator Spotlights and Legend Spotlights available so far. Until next time!