E3-exclusive Sea of Thieves cosmetics selling for roughly $50 on eBay

By Asher Madan
last updated

There's a new market for Sea of Thieves cosmetics.

Sea of Thieves is an exploration-based pirate game which launched in March 2018. The title relies on short-term missions and cosmetic items to drive gameplay. While almost all objects can be purchased through in-game currency, certain coveted sets are exclusive to events like E3. For example, the Obsidian Eye of Reach sniper rifle and Obsidian Drum are part of the Black Dog equipment set. Only those who attended E3 2018 could've received codes for these. This means that they aren't accessible to everyone.

Certain other Black Dog items can be acquired by purchasing four boxes of Chips Ahoy! cookies. However, if you're a Sea of Thieves player where this snack isn't sold, you can't get them. However, the Obsidian Eye of Reach and Obsidian Drum are even more elusive. Due to their lack of availability, codes for these two items are being sold for almost $50 each on eBay (opens in new tab). Codes for the Chips Ahoy! exclusives are mostly going for $10, which is less than four boxes of cookies.

Rare needs to host an event soon which gives everyone a chance to earn these E3-exclusive items. No one should feel pressured to spend up to $100 to complete in-game sets. Currently, there are numerous listings where dozens of gamers are paying roughly $50 for the Obsidian Drum alone.

Hopefully Sea of Thieves players will reach out to Rare. There's no denying that virtual goods have a certain appeal and completing sets is addictive. We'll keep you posted if the studio announces a concrete date for a chance to acquire them.

Keep an eye on WindowsCentral.com/Gaming for all the latest in Xbox and Windows 10 gaming, accessories, news, and reviews!

Asher Madan
Asher Madan

Asher Madan handles gaming news for Windows Central. Before joining Windows Central in 2017, Asher worked for a number of different gaming outlets. He has a background in medical science and is passionate about all forms of entertainment, cooking, and antiquing.

14 Comments
  • I really don't see the issue here. If someone is willing to pay that much, let them pay it. Same with microtransactions. So long as they are purely cosmetic and don't give you an advantage in multilayer then go for it! The way I see it is like a tip for the Devs. They make a game you enjoy, you want to stand out, buy a costume or a nice hat. Whatever. All these people that calm themselves gamers. Yet just don't want to actually put as little money as possible into gaming. People are willing to pay for this stuff. Why can't you let the Devs make that much more money out of it? It's only going to mean they can put that much more money into the next game they make, the cut MS gets from the sale of each one is only going to help the platform. Someone likes Porsche, they don't ***** about how much the extra's cost. They buy what they can and show it off, boast about it! All gamers ever do is ***** about how much everything costs. And media just seems to jump on that train and stoke the fires. For people that consider this their main hobby and it's supposed to be the thing they enjoy the most. All they seem to do is want to give the people that make everything as little money as possible. People work hard for their money, they have the right to go purchase something that makes them stand out and show how hard they work. It's all such backward thinking.
  • If that's the case Microsoft should sell the packs on their store for a set amount rather than allow people to get swindled on eBay. There needs to be some regulation and a clear timeline as to when others can get this content so that there isn't the need to find expensive codes on eBay.
  • No one is being ripped off. They are getting their codes for the price they are wiling to pay. To be ripped off would be if the codes were invalid or they didn't receive them. Just because you don't value them at that price, doesn't mean nobody else does. I don't think they are worth that either, so I won't buy them. Just like I wouldn't buy an iPhone, or a rolex, or a signed photo of Matt Damon.
  • Exactly. This shouldn't be a black market thing where they get to charge whatever they want. MS owns this content.
  • You seem to miss the point, this is NOT supposed to be for everyone. These were gifts for E3 attendees. The fact the attendees chose to give away or sell their one time use code is their business. Regulation makes no sense. You are NOT entitled to get anything you want. Microsoft gave them to who they wished to give them to and that was the end of it. What the recipient wants to do with their gift after the fact is and always should be legal and within their right. Microsoft or any company or person has no obligation to provide this to you or anyone than their intended recipient. In fact they don't even have to give anything away to anyone. It was a gift and nothing more.
  • Rare said that eventually this content would be available to those who couldn't attend E3 2018 and then said "watch this space". Since then we haven't heard anything. A lot of the people selling these codes on places like the Facebook Marketplace are saying that it'll be "months or a year" before they're available to everyone. The studio needs to establish a set timeline so people can make an informed decision if they want to spend that money.
  • I'm glad there's someone out there that see's the point. Exclusive items like this are awesome. Giving people a chance to show off something rare or unique is great for the industry. Plus the fact that these things have such a high value is a huge nod to the developers. If this needs to be regulated, then how far does it go? We need to start regulating paintings? Sculptures? Antiques. Make sure there is enough available to everyone and we can only charge the lowest price that the poorest person that want's it is willing to pay? There are as many people out there that would want an exclusive item than there are those that want a complete collection. Look at how popular trading is on CS:GO. No one there is ever going to have a complete collection of skins, and the market for them moves loads of cash around. Makes Steam a fortune. If Rare could implement a similar trading system for Sea of Thieves and this came to more games, I'd be all for it! Let the dev's take 5 or 10% of every transaction. They would make so much more money than they would lose from the people that wouldn't buy it because they're all pissy about it.
  • Who is "pressured" to spend money on cosmetic items in a video game?
  • I can only assume if you don't have this item within the next few days, you can no longer play the game.
  • Even to this day the “Midnight Blunderbuss” is locked behind an expensive hard drive purchase. It hasn’t been made available to anyone else. Hopefully Rare will inform everyone else soon as to when and how they can at least get the E3 2018 content.
  • So why can't people that go and buy these expensive things, or go to expensive events have exclusive items? Why can't these people be made to feel special in some way, and have a little reward for making that purchase? Something where if they come across someone else with that same item they can say "Hey! You have that E3 jacket! I was there too!" there's a small chance they'll come across the guy that bought it on ebay for $100, but so what, that's still a great conversation. Or you come across 10 people that all bought it for a buck. Kind of kills that special feeling. I say bring more of this stuff! Have limited numbers of it available. Heck, have some diamond encrusted pirate leg that costs $1000 and there's only 5 available. I want to come across the guy that bought it in the game and know that he spent $1000 on it! Have charity auctions for one of a kind items! Have poppies that are only available in November! Let people really stand out if they want! Look at the extortionate prices in Star Citizen. People are willing to pay. Then if people want to flip them on ebay, why not. Are only game stop and Microsoft allowed to sell this stuff? The seller could be hard up and really need this money, if not them particularly, one day someone could have a code like this and it could really get them out of a rough spot. All this bad press around microtransactions is just hurting the whole industry. Games are still the same price they were 30 years ago. The difference is, E.T was made by 1 guy in about 3 weeks. Games now have hundreds as many people and take exponentially more man hours to complete. Sure some bad decisions have been made regarding micro transactions. But does that mean they should be outright banned? No. They just need to be refined so that developers can get those tips for the people that have that disposable cash to spend on them, and have that reward for doing so. In effect it's more fair than going to a restaurant and leaving a tip, you don't walk away from the restaurant with a nice shiny peg leg or hook!
  • wow so much bs in one comment...
  • I think you should maybe spend more time researching the content of your article before you claim information. The Sea of Thieves Twitter account has responded to players asking about the E3 exclusives OVER A MONTH AGO -> https://twitter.com/SeaOfThieves/status/1006999054667206662 Rare have confirmed that you will be able to get them in game in the near future...
  • “We'll keep you posted if the studio announces a concrete date for a chance to acquire them.” I know. The issue is that it’s been over a month and we don’t have a concrete release date and people are paying $50 for one piece alone on eBay. There needs to be some clarification.