So peaceful - let's fire the cannons.

There's no point pretending otherwise. When I get East India Company in my eager little grasp, there is going to some seriously shady business taking place. Drawing a distinction between "pirates" and people who rob, exploit, and commit genocide but only on foreigners is arguably splitting hairs anyway, and I'm certain developers put these moral decisions in knowing full well that most gamers will immediately choose the unethical option if it involves better clothes. Now that we've all admitted what we really want to get up to while sailing the high seas, we can examine the attraction of the Pirate Bay pre-order bonus that ensures you begin your East India Company experience exactly how you mean to continue.

Available exclusively to those who pre-order East India Company through one of the major digital distribution services, The Pirate Bay is an entirely new bonus campaign. Beginning in Madagascar in 1650, the player is granted one frigate manned by a second-level pirate captain character with the unique skills Feared and Rout. It's not just a custom class and unique starting position, though - the campaign runs counter to the other included scenarios by disallowing the player from building to prosperity - success is possible only through unashamed looting of wealthy targets.

If the inclusion of pirates this late in development surprises you, you're not alone; although, if you're pleased, you're not without company there, either. Kim Soares of developers Nitro Games explains the last-minute addition:

"East India Company did not originally have pirates as a playable faction as we wanted to concentrate on the actual companies. However, we received an incredible amount of feedback from people who told us how much they would love to play as pirates. It became clear that the best way to implement pirates as a playable faction was to make a separate campaign for them. The best part about the campaign is that you can actually compete against other players and find out who's the best pirate by uploading your points to the EIC homepage afterwards."

East India Company has always been on my must-buy list, and with the proffered option to play as a nefarious, swashbuckling pirate, it just won my pre-order heart (and dollars), and garnered a great deal more anticipation for its PC release on July 31st.