For three years, Sea of Thieves fans have been clamoring for Rare to release a vinyl record of Robin Beanland's original score, and now they're finally getting their wish. Partnering with video game vinyl experts iam8bit, Rare's three-LP set is a collector's dream. It legitimately looks like one of the most lavishly designed vinyl records I've ever seen -- and I say this as a video game vinyl record collector.
The three-disc vinyl set includes a 24-page hardbound storybook, pop-up artwork featured on the discs' centers, multi-colored discs, and original artwork by multiple artists, including album art by Haley Wakefield and storybook art by Vivian Shih.
For years, Rare has slow-rolled the release of the Sea of Thieves original soundtrack on music services like Spotify, putting out one song every few months or so, often to the dismay of fans growing ever more impatient. But the studio did tease vinyl plans and asked fans to hold steady while the team worked on an unconventional release, and now it's clear what Rare meant by that. When your vinyl album is also a book, things have gotten weird -- in a good way.
iam8bit is taking pre-orders now for the $100 set, which I hesitate to link here because I haven't gotten mine yet and really would prefer they don't sell out in a hurry. Producer Mike Chapman celebrated the announcement on Twitter, saying "we wanted to create a ‘musical Tall Tale’ that would immerse you in the world and its stories" and that this release is intended to go beyond a typical soundtrack. The Sea of Thieves faithful have remained one of the more passionate fanbases in all of games. Something tells me this collection will be buoyed by strong sales in a hurry.
