Rare is donating Sea of Thieves pet sales to a real-life animal charity

This weekend, Rare is donating proceeds from in-game Sea of Thieves pet sales to a real-life animal charity.

Starting tonight at 5pm PDT / 8pm EDT / 12am BST and running until the same time on Sunday, August 1, the proceeds from all pet and pet accessory purchases from Sea of Thieves' Pirate Emporium will be donated to the Twycross Zoo Charity, which benefits animal conservation. The UK-based zoo also happens to be GamesRadar news editor Ben Tyrer's childhood stomping ground, not to mention Rare's local zoo, so we're particularly partial to this charitable cause.

Calling all charitable corsairs! This weekend from July 31st to August 1st, proceeds from pet-based Pirate Emporium purchases will go to @TwycrossZoo - an important conservation charity that happens to be Rare's local zoo! The purrfect excuse to adopt an adorable new crew member. pic.twitter.com/0pBAR9uazuJuly 30, 2021

This isn't the first time Rare has put its resources to a good cause. One of my favorite stories from last year was when the studio helped organize a real-life Sea of Thieves-inspired treasure hunt for a six-year-old superfan with cabin fever. It's definitely on a smaller scale than this weekend's initiative, but it's still a great example of Rare going above and beyond for its fans.

As if you needed another reason to play Sea of Thieves, let's not forget the acclaimed Pirates of the Caribbean expansion is still in full-swing. Last month, we spoke with executive producer Joe Neate and creative director Mike Chapman about the latest expansion, and Neate shared what it was like seeing the iconic Captain Jack Sparrow cross worlds into Sea of Thieves.

"That moment when you have your first encounter with Jack, and you first see him in the world and fitting in… It's like nothing else," says Neate. "Seeing it for the first time during development really kind of made me sit back and be like 'Wow, okay, yeah, this is something special."