Ron Gilbert, the creator of the Monkey Island franchise was just as surprised as the audience was when Sea of Thieves announced their upcoming crossover with the series.

Sea of Thieves has a working relationship with Disney (and by extension Lucasfilm Games) ever since they released A Pirate’s Life, their crossover with Pirates of the Caribbean. The first A Pirate’s Life Tall Tale even included a Monkey Island easter egg, so we’re sure some fans expected this already.

However when Gilbert was asked on social media about any potential involvement on his part, his response was: “Nope. Wasn’t even told about it. Happened behind my back”.

In the years after his involvement with Monkey Island, Gilbert went to work on children’s franchise such as Putt-Putt, Pajama Sam, and Freddi Fish. In 2022 he came back to work on Return to Monkey Island with publisher Devolver Digital.