Pimps at Sea

***Pimps At Sea*** was first announced in 2001 as Bungie's next game after *Halo*. While never released, updates were provided on the development of the game from 2001-2011, always on or around April 1 for April Fools Day. It's unknown if *Pimps At Sea* is still in active development at Bungie.

A pirate-based game was published by Bungie and developed by Harebrained Schemes on September 1, 2011, "*Crimson: Steam Pirates*." A separate pirate-based game, *Age of Booty*, was released by Certain Affinity in 2008.

In 2022, Bungie released a pirate-themed season for *Destiny 2*, called *Season of Plunder*, but no reference was made to P@S.

## Gameplay

"Lace up your platform shoes and pick up your diamond-studded whoop-ass cane - here comes a rival pimp bent on hijacking your hoes! Welcome to the world of Pimps At Sea, where you can hoist the jolliest of rogers and set sail for a different kind of booty.

"Pimps At Sea is a trailblazing combination of action and real-time strategy set in a lush, fully 3D world. You'll sail from port to port, making mad loot with all the freedom and realism offered by the most complex economic simulation ever to appear in a game. Groundbreaking AI means that women, johns and cops think and act with unmatched depth and complexity - and you'll need to master your sweet-talking and strong-arming skills to keep your game tight. In the streets or on the high sea, you'll need to smack down those who would lay you low: rival pimps, police, and even mutinous girls from your own stable. Expanding on *Oni's* innovative full-contact action system, you'll keep them all in check with an impressive arsenal of weaponry in addition to your hand-to-hand critical beatdown skills. But the real fun starts when you get online and compete with thousands of other players around the globe in the world's first and only massively multiplayer pimp simulation.

"Pimps At Sea: where pimping and poop decks collide! Coming SoonTM

"Arrrrrh, bitch!"

## Features

Unprecedented graphic detail: purple silk sails flap in the wind. Blood disperses realistically in the water when you board another pimp's ship and cut him - or when he cuts you.

Traverse the seas in style on a ship plated with one of seven precious metals. Unlock multiple cars for port town cruising.

Unique Tooth Powerup system allows you to increase your pimpin' skills.

Incredible Turn Them OutTM Technology allows you to import characters from other games on your system ... and pimp them!

## Updates

### 2001 - Announcement

*Pimps At Sea* is announced for the Xbox. The product page included screenshots, a description of the gameplay, and a behind-the-scenes interview video.

Shortly after the announcement, Bungie admitted that the announcement was a prank for April Fools Day, because the game "*isn't really* that far along in development."

### 2002 - Update

A new update to the game's development was released. The main ship's name was revealed to be the Diamond Dreadnought, the master pimp's name was revealed to be Sir Courvoisier, the player's first ship was revealed to be the Ticonderoga Muscle Canoe, and the Turn Them OutTM system that could import and pimp out characters from other games was announced .

In addition, an acronym was found on Bungie.org on the *Halo: Combat Evolved Game of the Year Edition* box on May 31: ABTFIPAS05. One theory is that the acronym means "Ask Bungie To Finally Introduce Pimps at Sea '05," possibly hinting that it would be released in 2005.

**Release Statement:**

Pimps At Sea allows you to follow your pimp every step of the way from pipsqueak to player. Before you can cruise the briny deep in a Diamond Dreadnought, you'll need to get your sea legs on the only ride an aspiring pimp can afford: the Ticonderoga Muscle Canoe. There's not a lot of room on board for booty, ballast or bullets, so you'll need to use your limited resources wisely. A pimp's style is paramount, but big collars need big dollars; you'll need to build your wardrobe one fur at a time. You'll need to think fast and play for keeps as you begin your voyage on the tumultuous seas of the pimp game.

Of course, as you mack your way to the top, you'll gain new abilities, outfits and access to additional features. One of these, the fabulous Turn Them Out™ system, allows you to pimp characters from other games. You spent money on them...now it's time for them to pay their own way.

Everyone knows about the successful pimps - the gold, the girls, the glory - but one never sees the long, hard road those pimps took to get there. And what if a pimp is not on a road at all, but blown by the winds of fate across the seven seas? His journey to the top of his game, and his struggle to stay there, was a largely unsung odyssey...until now.
### 2003 - Exclusive Hardware

The PimpCom Xbox Live headset and PimpWheel controller are announced for the game.

**Release Statement:**

Big news for Pimps at Sea fans! We're thrilled to announce that Pimps at Sea will ship with exclusive hardware that make it easier than ever to build a seaworthy pimp empire.

The PimpCom is the only Xbox Live headset optimized for Pimps at Sea. The right threads are a key element of keeping your pimp game tight, and the PimpCom ensures that you always play in style. Practically designed for the pimp on the go, the PimpCom is machine washable, stain-resistant and available in five different styles. the PimpCom allows you to get your chat on when you get your hat on. A special voice-masking chip built into the headset modulates your voice in real-time based on the state of the game: your voice will rise to a feral roar when beating down a rival pimp, then flow smooth like Hennessy when you're turning out his momma. No trick will talk smack to you while you're wearing the PimpCom.

But it's not enough for a pimp to look good - he has to BE a pimp, not just resemble one. And there's no better way to step up your mack attack than with the PimpWheel, the controller that puts you at the helm of the pimping experience. Steer your ride through treacherous waters and avoid treacherous wenches. Grab your bling-encrusted pimp stick and open up a can of whoop-ass. A multitude of buttons cover every function from making cash-strapped tricks walk the plank to feeding the goldfish in your acrylic platform shoes. You may buy the game, but you won't truly be a player unless you pick up the PimpWheel.

The PimpWheel and PimpCom will be sold separately, as well as in a specially-priced bundle with Pimps at Sea itself. Stay tuned to bungie.com for more information as it becomes available.
### 2004 - Collector's Edition

Bungie announced that Pimps At Sea would have a a "Big Pimpin' Bling-Bling Special Collector's Edition" to be made out of gold.

### 2005 - Movie Leak

On March 31, 1up.com released an article claiming that an "anonymous source from a Southern California publishing company" contacted them to leak that Bungie was set to release their first Hollywood production. The film would be entitled "Pimps At Sea: Avast Me Bitches." The movie was set to begin shooting in August.

Additionally, the source claimed that Bungie had plans to release their *Pimps at Sea* game as an Xbox 360 title in late 2006.

### 2006 - Update and Halo 3

On February 17, stosh announced that it was "Pimps at Sea Day" and shared a "sea shanty" for everyone.

A new screenshot was released for the game on March 31 along with a list of Xbox Live achievements and gameplay updates.

Pimps at Sea has been a long time coming. Bungie fans will be well aware that the game's magnificent scope and ambitious scale have led to countless delays. The good news is that none of the constant iterations and additions have gone to waste. We're utterly convinced that when this game ships (excuse the pun) it will revolutionize the very notion of what an RPG can be.

This will undoubtedly be compared to Oblivion - and there are some parallels - a deep combat system, resource and weapon management, a robust in-game economy and of course, vast worlds.

The screenshot you see here represents just a *quarter* of the entire game world. And even zoomed out to street-scale, you can see that it is densely populated with AI driven pimps and hos.

The AI is probably our most ambitious creation. The code that drives their behavior and interaction with the game world is called, "Cognitive Pimponance," and aside from simple pathfinding, it enables the in game denizens to behave independently - turning tricks, retrieving trick-funds, even buying rims and upgrading ships independently of your control.

Our Servicing-Based Economy works like this:

You start the game as a low grade Pimp-Privateer. You can choose your race, physical appearance and build, customize your character in a number of ways. You start of broke without even a single Ho to your name and only a scrawny Cabin Boy named Timmy Timmins in your stable. Job one is to either earn enough money using Timmy to get a real Ho, or ramp up your powers of persuasion, charisma and "gab," to convince ladies to take employment with your organization.

Remember, at the start of the game, you don't even have a canoe to your name. There is only so much business in the fishing hamlet of TurnTown, so you'll need a ride to start expanding your empire. And rides cost money.

These can of course be customized, with velvet sails, gold rigging and even spinning rims. This isn't just for fun - the more pimped-out your ride, the more ladies and posse will want to associate with your organization. Invest enough time in the game and you can end up with quite an army.

The graphics as you can see from the screenshot, are heavily stylized, rather than photorealistic - we looked at classics like Jet Set Radio, Zelda: Wind Waker and Ogre Battle for inspiration. We call the technique, Ho-toscoping. Seeing the world in Isometric 3D really makes it come alive, as do our detailed textures and shaders. The World of Pimps at Sea practically pops off the screen.

Look carefully and you'll even spot a guest character or two from one of our other games.

Now before we sign off for today and leave you to enjoy and digest this amazing announcement, there's one more treat. Since it's a 360 title, that means Achievements. For those unfamiliar with "Achievements" on Xbox Live, they're basically points and medals awarded for achieving certain goals. These goals can include anything from playing the game once, to finishing it on the hardest difficulty level possible, without losing a single life.

As you can imagine, picking what goals in the game are worthy of Xbox Live achievements is more than just arbitrarily applying points - it's a matter of picking challenges that you know players will want to see. So without further ado, here's a snapshot of our in-game Xbox Live achievements from our next project. Enjoy.

Around the end of November 2006, players began noticing Bungie employees' Xbox Live status of the game they were playing and what they were doing inside the game: "Playing Pimps at Sea (Alpha). Sailing, Yarr!" This was speculated to be the alpha build of *Halo 3* that was released before the launch of the Halo 3 multiplayer beta, before it was confirmed by Bungie to be real.

"Pimps at Sea" was used extensively during the development of *Halo 3*. References to "Pimps" included a job listing suggesting applicants be able to display "knowledge of pirates". A snippet from the "Weekly What's Update" at Bungie.net, written by Frankie, went so far as to say the studio's next project had a "very pimpy/piratey feel to it." The update was later edited out. In a more recent Weekly Update, a video tour of Bungie's new studios included a brief shot of a dry erase board, listing "Pimps at Sea" as being Bungie's next project.

### 2007 - Movie Update

The "Pimps at Sea" movie was revealed to be in post-production. According to the official poster released by Bungie, the movie's title was changed back to "Pimps At Sea" and would be rated R. It was scheduled to be released in the summer of 2008, but its whereabouts is currently unknown.

An easter egg of a "Pimps at Sea" poster was included in the *Halo 3* level, The Storm. Players in co-op can get inside of a wrecked ship on the level, and the post is hanging on the wall. The text says, "Shiek of the Sea," referring to Shiek. Additionally, two pirate-themed files were added to the "Bungie Favorites" section in Halo 3. The first file was a Forge map called "Seven Seas" and the other was an Infection gametype for custom games.

After Bungie's announcement that they were becoming independent from Microsoft, fans were speculating what would become of Pimps At Sea. Brian Jarrard was able to answer this question regarding a potential release in a 1UP interview: "Fortunately, Bungie LLC does retain ownership of the Pimps at Sea franchise so anything is possible!"

### 2011 - PimpsVille

In 2011, Bungie announced "PimpsVille," a "bold, new direction for the beloved Pimps at Sea franchise."

`“*You know, for the past twenty years Bungie has prided itself by only making kick ass games that we want to play, but I was talking to Mark Zuckerberg yesterday – who just so happens to be a really close friend of mine – and he said Facebook has something like 500 million users. I’m thinking if we can get one dollar from every one of those guys, we can easily make a billion dollars.*”`

`~ **Peter Parsons on the new direction of Pimps At Sea**`
**Release:**

Welcome to PimpsVille

In PimpsVille, players control their very own slice of the vibrant port city of Los Angeles. Visit friendly neighborhood corners, exchange a variety of classy gifts, and earn the respect of your peers, by friendship or by force, as you climb the social ladder all the way from Perpetrator to Pimp Daddy.

Stake Your Claim

It might be the oldest profession in the book, but a modern era demands brand new Pimp Tactics. Manage an ever-growing stable of cash-strapped wenches, recruit loyal allies throughout the city to do your dirty work, and bribe law enforcement officials to increase Bling ROI.

Sell Your Wares

Collect and advertise millions of unique goods and services on your corner by harnessing the power of Bling and establishing high levels of Cred inside of a real-time urban economy simulation.

Buff Your Neighbors

Help your friends complete low-level tasks, earn respect, and accomplish meaningful milestones. Using your own personal social network, send additional “Johns” their way to earn decorations and collectibles for your own corner.
## Game Reviews

**Metacritic**: 6.5/10 (eventually raising to 7.7/10)

Lace up your platform shoes and pick up your diamond-studded whoop-ass cane - here comes a rival pimp bent on hijacking your hoes! Welcome to the world of Pimps At Sea, where you can hoist the jolliest of rogers and set sail for a different kind of booty. Pimps At Sea is a trailblazing combination of action and real-time strategy set in a lush, fully 3D world. You'll sail from port to port, making mad loot with all the freedom and realism offered by the most complex economic simulation ever to appear in a game. Groundbreaking AI means that women, johns and cops think and act with unmatched depth and complexity - and you'll need to master your sweet-talking and strong-arming skills to keep your game tight. In the streets or on the high sea, you'll need to smack down those who would lay you low: rival pimps, police, and even mutinous girls from your own stable. Expanding on Oni's innovative full-contact action system, you'll keep them all in check with an impressive arsenal of weaponry in addition to your hand-to-hand critical beatdown skills. But the real fun starts when you get online and compete with thousands of other players around the globe in the world's first and only massively multiplayer pimp simulation. Pimps At Sea: where pimping and poop decks collide! Arrrrrh, bitch! [Bungie] No, the game doesn't exist (yet) and all the review excerpts were faked by Metacritic.

**GamingTrend**: 531/600

Pimps at Sea carries in its hold something of a salty reputation. The venerated Bungie Studios teases with its finest properties to the point of breaking and so it has been with the launch of their new franchise set on the high seas of adventure. It may have been a long time coming, but the man with da plan has finally set foot in the port and it is a merry time for all.

Imagine for a second that you are a pimp. At sea. The bountiful beauty of the endless ocean stretches before your spyglass as your wenches bring you only the finest pillaged ale while your crew fine tunes your Pimp-N-Ator 4000 Launch Craft™ as you prepare to lay siege to the hallowed Port Royale W. Cheese. The buxom crew scurry to and fro as all prepare for the assault when you realize that while your artillery is properly tricked out, you have failed basic Pimpmanship by not dressing to thrill.

This is where the beauty of Pimps at Sea kicks in. At any point in your high seas-high stakes adventure, you can customize any part of your bitchin’ attire. Because at the end of the day, it’s all about pleasin’ the ladies yo.

Graphics - 70/100

I will say one thing about Pimps at Sea: I was disappointed in the graphics. It’s one thing to take a while creating a game if you actually put some effort into the visuals, but this game borders on disheartening. Clearly everything is a throw-back to when games didn’t have to rely on pretty pictures to hide the truth that nothing of substance was behind the curtain, but had I an Etch-A-Sketch and a notepad I think I could have drawn prettier pictures than this in my sleep.

On the plus side, the shine from your pimp’s bling is not tarnished by the lackluster visuals. For some reason, importing characters from other games actually brings the resolution from those games into this one which can lead to all sorts of fun options. Just for kicks I imported the Princess Leia from LEGO Star Wars and found it so funny that I converted the whole game over to LEGOs for one play through.

Bungie should be commended for this engine because conceivably hardware requirements could become antiquated courtesy of Pimps at Sea. Don’t like how this game looks? Then import the graphics from another game and see how you like that! I’m off to see if I can’t cross Leisure Suit Larry with Black and see what sort of pimpin’ duds I can get from it.

Sound/Music - 92/100

Microsoft’s decision to include a hard drive with the original Xbox is proven a masterstroke because the custom soundtrack option leads to genius combat. Listening to When a Man Loves a Woman while pimping out your ho’s in exchange for rigging and lemons makes everything worthwhile. In hindsight, setting the soundtrack to random probably was the smartest decision I could have made because beating down the local barkeep for skipping out on his ho dues while listening to Baby Got Back was note perfect. It was even better that he relented and gave up his only daughter as barter, and being that she was cute I figured it was about equal to his debt.

The normal sea sounds are in full effect here, and those of you with surround sound setups will marvel at how the bling rattles as your pimp glides through town. I particularly enjoyed how the spurs rattled on a pair of ostrich skin cowboy boots I picked up in Port Jon Smith, before I raided it and burned it to the ground. Hey, if there are no wenches about then what good is the port to a pimp?

Controls - 90/100

The controls for Pimps at Sea are surprisingly fluid given the sheer number of options for smacking around ho’s. Pulling the left trigger locks onto your ho and pulling the right trigger lets you beat them back into their proper place. There’s a neat trick if you’ve grabbed a hold of your ho and pull back on the right thumbstick, the speed at which you move it forward determines how fast you slap her. Depending on whether she brought in the booty or not (or whether she had it coming), you can slap her gently or really rough her up.

The A button is essentially your all-access-pass because this is how you open doors, activate the Ho Trade™ window, and initiate conversations. The X button is your primary fighting/pimp-slapping button so once you go into battle against fleets of enemies or a recalcitrant wench, this is the button that gets the job done. The Y button shouts for your followers and ho’s to come back to you if they get too far away which in my game was about two feet. Wenches should know that their place was behind me, but sometimes they didn’t get the message. So I’d hit the Y button to bring them in nice and close, grab ‘em with the left trigger then debate whether to mess ‘em up or let them off with a stern warning.

Gameplay - 188/200

Complain all you will about the length of development, but Pimps at Sea has gameplay to spare and gamers will be hard-pressed to beat this bitch in one sitting. The Pimp-My-Homie™ Pimp Generator is almost a mini-game by itself and lets you customize your pimp right down to his pimping lifestyle before taking to the high seas for plunder and booty. After naming my pimp Wayne Brady, I proceeded to select a series of fine accoutrements to bling his pimpin’ ass right the hell out. When he walked out of his cabin and surveyed all before him, his women were on their knees immediately which told me that Wayne Brady was a god among men.

That’s right boys and girls. Non-player characters actually respond to how you look and act courtesy of the Polygamous AI™ that measures the respect and adoration of both women and men on an ever-evolving scale. There were rumors once of scaling the game levels so that the more blinged out you became, the more blinged out enemy pimps became but I failed to see an instance of this anywhere. What this reviewer was astounded by was the response the enemy pimp Marva gave to me once I boarded her ship. She actually threatened me for boarding her ship and told me she’d plant her leather boot so far up my backside I’d be tasting leather.

Oh, it was on. Wayne Brady choked himself a bitch or three that night let me tell you.

Players guide their pimp through the rigors of pimpdom by attacking ports and welcoming the town’s wenches into your stock. Should you decide to go the friendly route, then you can simply trade out the ho’s for fair market value and see what you’re offered in return. Exotic items are naturally more expensive and could cost more ho’s than what you have on hand, but the end result is worth it as the higher your pimp levels are the more likely it is that you’ll successfully seduce a governor’s daughter(s) onto your ship.

Those jewels, my friends, are truly priceless to a pimp.

Value / Replay Value - 91/100

This, dear reader, is the go-to game of the season. Not only can you import different characters from different games into the Wench-O-Matic thus creating an endless array of beautiful ho’s, but with the latest updates from Microsoft’s Xbox Live service you can also take images from a burned CD and copy them over to the directory the game creates on the hard drive. Just make sure that Aunt Bea’s 80th anniversary pictures aren’t on there or else you could be in for a rude awakening when your pimp needs to regain his health by bagging his latest ho and she looks just like family. An awkward moment, that.

The customization options border on endless for Pimps at Sea which would be enough for most games, but the combat and ways in which to actually pimp border on mind boggling. There is an unexpected depth to the game that borders on ridiculous, but I do think Bungie was slagging off when they only put roughly 14 hours of gameplay in. The upshot is that despite the short experience for the main storyline, the various ways you can pimp yourself to success means almost endless replay value.

Concluding Thoughts

Originally announced for PC then changed to an Xbox exclusive the following Spring, Pimps at Sea has been in development for long enough to make even the most scurrilous miscreants lose interest at the mention of its name. But all naysayers will soon be proven wrong for the final build Bungie was kind enough to unearth for us doth speaketh of great things to come in the gaming world. This is absolutely the way to launch a franchise, and with the recent announcement of Pimps at Sea 2: Pimps Up, Wenches Down, Bungie and Microsoft know they have something special on their hooks.

Once you and your fellow pimps have blinged out Lara Croft then pimp-slapped her with your Cane O' Nine Beyotches™ you will know true multiplayer gaming bliss. This is the must-have title for the season, if only because riding your Pimp-N-Ator 4000™ into a harbor then blinding the locals with the shine from your pearl walking staff is the sort of adventuring that comes around once in a lifetime.

Pros:

* Pimps. Sea. Wenches. End of discussion.
* Import in other game characters and even family/friends to build your wench armada.
* Near endless customization options, even moreso when connected to Bungie’s Meet-A-Pimp™ online matchmaking service.
* Plenty of side quests and collectibles across several islands.

Cons:

* Throw-back graphics could have sharper resolution.
* Game ends on a cliffhanger right when you think the final battle is about to start.
* Only about 14 hours for the main quest
* Neither Monkeys nor Threepwoods make an appearance on this salty voyage.

Final Score

531/600 - 89%
## Cheats

Two cheats were discovered for Pimps At Sea and submitted by "blake":

**Its all about your look:**

Non-player characters actually respond to how you look and act courtesy of the Polygamous AI™ that measures the respect and adoration of both women and men on an ever-evolving scale.

**Exotic Items:**

Exotic items are naturally more expensive and could cost more ho’s than what you have on hand, but the end result is worth it as the higher your pimp levels are the more likely it is that you’ll successfully seduce a governor’s daughter(s) onto your ship.

## Rap

The song, "Drunken Sailor", became the unofficial rap to Pimps at Sea when it was added to the Pimps at Sea YTMND page.

## Game Behind-the-Scenes

Check out this behind-the-scenes interview footage (backup) of the *Pimps At Sea* 2001 development team.

## Movie

On March 31, 1up.com released an article claiming that an "anonymous source from a Southern California publishing company" contacted them to leak that Bungie was set to release their first Hollywood production. The film would be entitled "Pimps At Sea: Avast Me Bitches." The movie was set to begin shooting in August.

The "Pimps at Sea" movie was revealed to be in post-production. According to the official poster released by Bungie, the movie's title was changed back to "Pimps At Sea" and would be rated R.

Michael Bay will direct the film, which based on the novel by Sylvia Plath based on a screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Alex Garland. Allen Murray, Ron Booth, K. Jong Il and Allan Peter Parson will produce, while Shane Kim, Peter Moore, Ron Howard and Jon Travolta will executive produce. The film stars Sir Anthony Hopkins, Damon Wayans, Pam Grier and David Scully; Martin O'Donnell will provide the music and Beyonce Knowles will be lending her voice to the song "Yo-ho-ho."

It was scheduled to be released in the summer of 2008, but its whereabouts is currently unknown.

## Community RPG

Unsatisfied with Bungie's lack of progression on the game, Bungie.net users SS\_Zag1, Prometheus25, and Ash55 released a real game entitled *Pimps at Sea RPG* in 2007, along with a Group to talk the game and to discuss future updates in. The game portrays many Bungie Employees and Bungie.net members using the elements of a fun-filled RPG. Zag released Version 1 of the game, and it was such a success that the Forum Ninjas immediately pinned it for the community to enjoy.

The game was made use PRG Maker, and the last known version of the game was Version 8.2, released in 2012

## Spinoff

*Age of Booty*, a downloadable real-time strategy game, was announced in Electronic Gaming Monthly's April 2008 issue."I'm pretty sure the impetus behind [a game about pirates] and sailing ships came from thinking about Pimps at Sea," admitted Certain Affinity founder and Bungie alum Max Hoberman. "But not a lot more than that." It was released in 2008 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows PC.

"Back when Max Hoberman was in charge of Bungie’s Online Team, one of their responsibilities was thinking up the studio’s yearly April Fool’s Day gag. One year, they delivered a phony product announcement for a new game called Pimps at Sea. The idea struck such a chord with the fan base that it became something of a recurring joke every April 1, and even garnered some amused coverage from the usually humorless gaming press. When Certain Affinity got up and running, one of Max’s first ideas was to take this ludicrous concept and turn it into a real game."

## Origin of Pimps at Sea

According to Matt Soell on the Life & Times of Video Games podcast, in March 2001, he and others on the Online Team at Bungie were trying to think of an idea for an April Fools joke:

We were looking for an idea for an April fool's joke. And I'd had the Pimps at Sea idea a couple of year's previous, when Bungie was still in Chicago. I was walking through the city across the bridge over the Chicago River on State Street. And I happened to glance down and there are these businesses, like these boat charter things that you can get on and go for a ride on the Chicago River.

And there were these two couples that were getting on one of these boats, and they were all dressed up to the nines. I mean, they were just very gaudy. And the man in particular had these incredibly colorful suits. And I looked down and it just — the phrase flashed into my head, Pimps at Sea. And I didn't know what to do with it, but I thought it was hilarious.

And so the next day when I went into work, I was telling everyone, 'Hey, I had this idea yesterday: Pimps at Sea. What do you think?' And everyone just kind of stared at me like I was nuts. But, you know, a couple of years later, when we were looking for an April fool's joke, I remember we were sitting around the cafeteria at Microsoft, sort of banging ideas back and forth. And I remember saying, ‘well, we could do Pimps at Sea. We could announce that we're doing Pimps at Sea as an actual game.’ And I remember Max Hoberman, who was the head of what was called the online team at that point. You know, he was like, yes, that is the one, that's where we're going. \*laughs\*

And so that's how that got started. That was the moment when we decided to do it.

## External Links

* *Pimps At Sea* Product Page
* Wikipedia Entry
* Age of Booty
* The Life & Times of Video Games Podcast: 25 - Pimps at Sea

## Trivia

* *Pimps At Sea* was Bungie's long-running April Fools joke that began in 2001. The last known joke was in 2011.

## Gallery

The "Official" Pimps at Sea logoA screenshot of Pimps at SeaAnother screenshot of Bungie's 'Pimps At Sea," not to be confused with the playable Pimps At Sea RPGA page from the "script" of Pimps at Sea, the MovieAnother page from the "script"PimpsVille, the Facebook-based Pimps at Sea expansion gameAnother P@S screenshotThe Pimpsville "Pimpventory" from April Fools' 2011Marty O'Donnell, a true pimp of the sea.

## Resources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Bungie.net (via archive.org) - Pimps at Sea
2. ↑ Bungie.org - A good number of April Fool's pranks on the web yesterday. Even Bungie got in on the act. This was the first time I've seen them do a public April Fool's prank. Check out their new game Pimps at Sea while it's still up. (April 2, 2001)
3. ↑ YouTube - Pimps at Sea: Behind the Scenes
4. ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) - Pimps at Sea? (April 2, 2001)
5. ↑ Bungie.org - As Bungie to WHAT? (May 31, 2002)
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 1UP.com (via archive.org) - Bungie Goes To Hollywood? (March 31, 2005)
7. ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) - Pimps at Sea Day! (February 17, 2006)
8. ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) - Bungie Weekly Update (March 31, 2006)
9. ↑ Bungie.org - The Bungie Weekly Update (March 31, 2006)
10. ↑ Bungie.org - Things That Make You Go Hmmm... (November 30, 2006)
11. ↑ YouTube - Halo 3 "Pimps at Sea" Build Gameplay (Video Archive)
12. ↑ Engadget.com - Pimps at Sea (Halo 3) sighted on Live, yar! (December 1, 2006)
13. ↑ Joystiq - Pimps at Sea players spotted on Xbox Live [update 1] (December 1, 2006)
14. ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) - Bungie Weekly Update (December 1, 2006)
15. ↑ Evil Avatar - Bungie At Sea?! December 1, 2005)
16. ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) - Bungie Weekly Update (April 28, 2006)
17. ↑ Engadget - April Fool's Alert #7: Bungie announces Pimps on Film (April 1, 2007)
18. ↑ Bungie.net - Pimps at Sea Movie Announced (April 1, 2007)
19. ↑ 1UP - Bungie Discusses Leaving Microsoft (October 5, 2007)
20. ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) - Welcome to PimpsVille (April 1, 2011)
21. ↑ Metacritic: Pimps at Sea
22. ↑ MetaCritic - Pimps at Sea
23. ↑ GamingTrend: Pimps at Sea
24. ↑ Console Cheat Codes - Pimps At Sea Cheats
25. ↑ YTMND.com - Pimps at Sea
26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Bungie.net (archived) (scroll down to view) - Pimps at Sea RPG! \*Download it Here!\* (July 19, 2007)
27. ↑ Bungie.net - Pimps at Sea RPG
28. ↑ RPG Maker
29. ↑ PaSv8.2 (Dropbox) (MediaFire)
30. ↑ Bungie.net - Pimps at Sea v 8.2 has risen from the frothy depths. 33% more hos! (February 25, 2012)
31. ↑ Certain Affinity - Age of Booty
32. ↑ ShackNews - Certain Affinity Making Pimps at Sea, Sorta (March 4, 2008)
33. ↑ The Life & Times of Video Games: 25 - Pimps at Sea (April 9, 2020)