A competition to win a bunch of gold bananas valued at £80,000 has been launched by Xbox and British game studio Rare.
The Quest for the Golden Bananas has been launched ahead of the release of the highly-anticipated shared-world adventure game Sea of Thieves on March 20.
It is open to teams of up to four people from the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany and Australia, who must solve a series of riddles online and in the real world to win four bananas made of gold – each valued at £20,000.
The quest begins with a riddle at 8am (UK time) on Monday, March 19, with a further 14 released over the following three days. On March 21 at 9pm (UK time) teams will be able to submit their answers at xbox.com/thebananaquest to be in with a chance of going through to the grand final.
The final will take place on March 23, and will see a team from each country try to answer one last riddle. Whoever answers it first, wins the grand prize.
Runners up will be awarded limited edition Sea of Thieves golden “doubloons”, valued at more than £300 each.
“London goldsmiths Smith & Harris have created a Caribbean pirates treasure; gold bananas hand-fabricated from sheet gold, using ancient and modern skills,” a spokesperson for the National Association of Jewellers said. “Due to the level of craftsmanship involved and the uniqueness of the golden bananas, we expect them to be valued at least £20,000 per banana.”
The bananas will be on display at the National Maritime Museum’s Neptune Court on March 14, giving players the chance to see the prize up close before they join the quest.
Teams can find more information and view clues as they land at xbox.com/TheBananaQuest. Extra hints and tips will be released on Xbox social channels and @TheBananaQuest on Instagram and Twitter.
The competition was announced in a new Xbox show on Mixer, which aired on Saturday. Inside Xbox is a monthly live programme focusing on the latest games and features, and presenters include Larry Hryb, Graeme Boyd, Jeff Rubenstein, Alex Hebert and Lydia Ellery. They will be giving prizes to viewers who join in the conversation either on Mixer or via Twitter using the #insidexbox hastag.
The first show saw the Inside Xbox team sit down with British games studio Rare to talk about Sea of Thieves and what fans can expect from the title at launch.
Xbox has revealed that gamers can purchase Sea of Thieves on its own for Xbox One devices or Windows, or buy a bundle that includes a one-terabyte Xbox One S, a full download version of Sea of Thieves, a standard wireless controller and one-month trials of Xbox Live Gold and Game Pass.
It will also be available on Xbox’s Game Pass subscription service on the same day as its general release.
