Once again, Sea of Thieves and Xbox joined forces for Pride Month, resurrecting this bold statement of a tee that will live on forever. The limited merchandise is available now at the Xbox Gear Shop, and the announcement has generated a wild mixed reaction of excitement, support, and some rather perplexing comments from within the community.
The much sought-after design has the rainbow stripes running right across the chest and fits elegantly with the swashbuckling sights of the game. Since it is a re-release of merch from past years, it’s a chance for those who missed the previous runs to now take great pride in displaying this high-seas, ever-so-karate style. The official tweet that announced the new release dropped a link to the site, causing waves of reactions—from pure excitement expressed by gamers such as MakakarTTV, who replied simply by stating, “Ooooh I like that!”, to somewhat…interesting responses from others.
One user bore the name of Pittsburghraider, and without a second thought, unleashed a rant against rainbow-loving freaks, while the other side of the sea had Gauthier_Slr proclaiming in taste that NASCAR should be his idea of using the shirts. But hey, DJBluePDX, in his own class, said thank you to the team and stated that he would be ordering one, and MF RICKY left a testimonial with “I’m not gay, but this is a dope shirt.”
So, the bickering went on. Some were mad about being restricted on shipping (shoutout to Mozzawind asking why the UK was left out), some saw this as yet another opportunity to throw shade at previous merch drops, notably the Megalodon controller raffle, and then we got… less legitimate takes—such as 30nick31, jokingly asking if this was “for the butt pirates.” (Truly classy, gents.)
Even Xbox pulled themselves down into some of those replies with another retort to a fan’s pirate rave call: “That’s the pirate way,” as BehavingBeardly reminded everyone how stylish they look wearing the shirt, much to the delight of many.
Again, this is nothing new. Every year, video games companies support Pride, and every year, this loud minority of gamers just loses its mind over a few rainbow pixels. That said, at least Sea of Thieves keeps pushing forward on inclusive merch (see the comment section for why).
Right now on the Xbox Gear Shop, the shirt is available for all who want it. Whether you’re proud to be a pirate or just love the look, it’s a great way to show support—at least give some trolls a good shake. The tweets back and forth will be entertaining to watch on Twitter.
So yeah, a different Pride Month, and the gaming community once again cascades in love and hate. But at the end of it all, the days are back and the seas open, and the brig awaits anyone that can’t take a little color. Balkan pirates, sail on!