‘Thief’ & ‘Destiny’ Confirmed For Xbox One

Unveiled with all the pomp and spectacle of a damp squib, Microsoft’s Xbox One announcement did at least acknowledge the console’s existence. Now with the last of the next-gen Kings crowned, attention turns to which development houses will declare where, for whom and with what titles.

Back in March, Game Rant confirmed that the Thief series would make its long-awaited return on both PC and PlayStation 4 platforms. Today, developer Eidos Montreal added Microsoft’s latest behemoth to that list (check out Thief trailer here). Not to be outdone by the venerable old franchise, Xbox regulars Bungie Studios also announced their Destiny project for the Xbox One, confirming information that was leaked late last year.

Debuting a decade on from the series’ previous installment, Thief returns players to the nameless steampunk setting of ‘The City’, to duke it out with, steal from and sleuth around the game’s various aristocratic enemies. Slipping back into the tippy-toed shoes of franchise favorite Garrett, (along with his controversial new voice) gamers must utilize every inch of whit to unravel a citywide conspiracy and save the medieval-like metropolis from ruin.

There’s no word as of yet on just how Thief plans to incorporate the Xbox One’s already confusing, always-online functionality. However, considering the game’s simultaneous development on current-gen consoles, any changes made are likely to be minimal. Use of the Xbox One’s new Kinect technology also remains up-in-the-air, with the title’s cross-platform design likely spelling doom for any couch-bound cat burglars in training.

In contrast to Thief’s secretive bent, Bungie has been far more forthcoming about their adoption of always-online tech. The studio announced their ‘shared-world shooter’ Destiny back in February, before facing down a SimCity-like backlashover the game’s tech the following March. Oddly enough, they’ve not said anything official yet on a PC version of the title.

The title, Bungie’s first foray onto consoles since 2010′s Halo: Reach takes place on an embattled future Earth, one in which humankind’s rapid expansion across the stars has provoked an unprecedented wave of alien aggression. With mankind on the brink of total annihilation, a mysterious moon like object appears from above, protecting the planet and bestowing unbelievable powers upon humanity’s last protectors.

With plenty of speculation surrounding Destiny’s graphical quality (were those tech demos and screens taken from next-gen consoles?) as well as Thief‘s tumultuous development process, both games are certain to beg questions of gamers right up until their speculative 2014 release dates.

Destiny debuts on Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360 & PS3 in 2014. Thief sneaks onto PC, PS4 & Xbox One in 2014

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Is Eidos Montreal’s ‘Thief’ Reboot in Trouble?

Despite numerous reveals and news stories suggesting the complete opposite, all is not well in the house of Thief. Yes, the game was officially unveiled last month, leading most to assume the long-gestating project was finally on track, but that is apparently not the case.

In fact, the game’s development has been plagued with numerous departures of both senior and junior team members, escalating production costs, and intra-office politicking. Needless to say, while Thief looks great, it’s behind the scenes work is an ugly affair.

According to a source for Polygon, development at Eidos Montreal has been rocky at best. While the Deus Ex: Human Revolution team has been basking in the glow of releasing a critically acclaimed and financially successful “reboot,” theThief team has been on the outside looking in. As Polygon explains, the lead and senior design roles on Thief were fluid, meaning that it was not uncommon for a team member to up and leave. In fact, as Thief‘s promotional tour was ramping up with the Game Informer cover story, Lead Game Designer Dominic Fleury departed the studio.

Now, studio departures aren’t always cause for concern, sometimes they are part of the process, but the way in which these exits impact development is a bit alarming. Apparently, with each new hire comes a changing of the guard, so to speak, with old ideas being replaced by new ones. Basically, the game can’t find solid footing without a solid and unified development team first, which Thiefreportedly doesn’t have just yet.

Polygon’s source also cites several other problematic areas including an unwillingness by team members to create a sequence with “Cinemax-level” sex, and a demo that took nearly 10 months to develop. That demo – the same one showcased at this year’s Game Developer’s Conference – required input from the full breadth of Eidos Montreal’s team just to get finished.

However, because the core Thief game has changed so much over time, and perhaps because Eidos wanted to put their best foot forward, that GDC demo won’t actually load inside Thief‘s version of Unreal Engine 3. That means that the game on display at GDC, is not indicative of the current iteration of Thief.

At one point, Eidos Montreal toyed with the idea of releasing the demo to the public to give gamers a better sense of the game, but that idea has apparently been scrapped after the publisher was unhappy with the captured footage. Eidos does have plans to showcase the game at this year’s E3, but it’s unclear at this point whether that presentation will feature a new demo or the same one.

So, while fans petition for the return of Stephen Russell, there may be bigger issues to worry about than changing voice actors.

Does Thief‘s development troubles give you cause for concern? Will Thief ever see the light of day?

Thief is reportedly still on track for a 2014 release on the PC, PS4, and other next-gen consoles.

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Unhappy ‘Thief’ Fans Petition For Return of Original Voice Actor

Any fresh addition to a much-loved game series that carries the “reboot” label is bound to be met with a degree of wariness by fans, especially if it comes almost a decade after the release of the last game, as Eidos Montreal’s new steal ‘em upThief does. The developers have promised that they’re staying true to the spirit of the game, with the focus remaining on a single-player campaign and the option to play through the entire game without killing anyone, but fans are understandably greeting each fresh announcement with a critical eye.

News of the most notable change so far came with the release of the first CG trailer for the game, which was narrated by Romano Orzari, the new voice of Garrett the Master Thief. For the first three games the character’s lines were provided by actor Stephen Russell, and quite a few fans were disgruntled by the change of casting.

A gamer going by the pseudonym Cloud Unknown has started a petition over atChange.org, demanding that Eidos Montreal bring Russell back for the reboot, and the petition has since gathered almost 2000 signatures. Here’s what the petitioners are signing:


Eidos Montreal; Square Enix: Bring back Stephen Russell for Thief 4.

We were promised that we will play as Garrett. The voice we’ve been given is not him. Stephen Russell, the voice actor for the first three Thief games, defined Garrett. Garrett does not have a defining face, it is his characteristic voice that makes him who he is. Change that, and he becomes another character entirely.

We’ve all gotten attached to that voice over the course of many robberies, adventures, and heists. Without it, Garrett is simply an impostor of his own self. A plastic Garrett lookalike. And so we urge the developers… Please bring Stephen back?

It might seem like a small thing to some, but it is not. Don’t let Thief go the same way Splinter Cell went, which had its main character replaced by a new actor after five games. It is like a slap to the face. We’ve gotten attached to this character. Don’t take it away. Stephen is a core part of the Thief series.

Thief‘s narrative director Stephen Gallagher and audio director Jean-Christophe Verbert have already responded to the criticisms in a community interview, saying that Stephen Russell was their first choice for the role of Garrett, and was even involved with the game’s early development. However, because the studio opted for full performance capture (meaning that physical movement and audio would be recorded at the same time) they found that Stephen Russell was simply not physically capable of taking on the role:

“Stephen was considered quite heavily. We actually had him in for some preliminary vocal recordings in fact.

“Being able to capture the voice at the same time as the actors’ movements and facial expressions, all while the actors play off each other, delivers a much more convincing experience than traditional techniques of recording each characters’ dialogue separately and then animating everything by hand afterwards.

“With the new visual of Garrett we’d created, we found that there was a disconnect that we couldn’t ignore between the concepted character and Stephen’s voice today.

“To answer your question directly, the actor playing Garrett needed to be able to perform his own stunts. Garrett’s a really athletic guy. We could have pasted Stephen’s voice on top of the actions and stunts of someone else, but this wouldn’t appear natural. It really wouldn’t make any sense to capture the full performance for our other characters, but not for our star.”

Voice actor Nolan North has sung the praises of full performance capture as it was utilized in the Uncharted series, saying that, by contrast, the work that he did on the Assassin’s Creed series as the voice of Desmond Miles made the movement of the character and the voice acting feel too disjointed:


“I wish it wasn’t done separately. Don’t get me wrong, the mo-cap actors do a great job, but there will always be somewhat of a disconnect when it’s done this way … The cut-scenes are shot exactly like a film or television program. The actors interact more naturally and unique and subtle elements to the performances are captured. Don’t think for a minute that gamers don’t notice. They’re a savvy bunch.”

This will be the first time that full performance capture has been used in the Thiefseries. In previous games, animator Daniel Thron created hand-drawn animated cut-scenes that featured a lot of silhouettes and shadows, and even in the third-person view there were a limited range of animations for Garrett. Almost ten years have passed, however, since the release of the last game, and it’s not only understandable but expected that the game developers would want to make use of the technology that has become available since then.

Whether you agree with the petition or not, there’s little chance that Eidos Montreal are going to take any action based on it. 2000 signatures out of their total target audience isn’t all that significant a number, and if the studio was ever going to change its mind about using full performance capture instead of mo-cap/audio booth recording with two separate actors, it would have been before they went ahead and completed the performance capture.

The petition also comes across as more than a little exaggerated, describing Orzari as an “impostor” and a “plastic Garrett lookalike,” and calling the casting decision “a slap in the face.” The Splinter Cell comparison is an apt one, at least, since Michael Ironside was replaced in Splinter Cell Blacklist for the exact same reason that Russell was replaced; the actor is now 63 years old and not capable of the kind of physical movement needed for full performance capture.

Moreover, the backlash doesn’t seem to be against the choice of Romano Orzari or what we’ve heard of his Garrett performance so far; the main criticism of Orzari is that he isn’t Stephen Russell, and that’s not really something he can help. It’s also a little insulting to the writers of the previous games to suggest that Garrett is defined by his voice actor, rather than by the way he is written. Orzari’s voice is actually impressively close to Russell’s gravelly tones, and so long as he does a good job of voicing Garrett, there’s no reason that the change of lead should be detrimental to the game as whole.

You can definitely say this for the Eidos Montreal team behind Thief: they’re not rushing the game out. It was originally announced in 2009, and is currently expected to release on PC, PS4, and Microsoft’s 4th generation console some time in 2014.

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‘Thief’ Video Takes Fans Behind the Scenes of the Reboot

Rebooting a cherished franchise: it’s as close as a game studio can come to betting their future on a single project. But after Eidos Montreal‘s success in reinvigorating the Deus Ex series, they’re not shying away from continuing their streak. Next up for the developer is Thief, rebooting the classic stealth title for a brand new generation of players and hardware.

In the latest peek behind the scenes at the studio, those entrusted with the task of introducing Garrett – with a brand new actor in the role – talk about just how high the expectations are. Not just because of the franchise’s storied past, but how much more demanding players will have become by the time the game is released.

The video from PlayStation Access grants a longer look at those charged with not just rebooting, but re-imagining Thief entirely; Garrett may be returning better skilled than ever, but the experience must be a new one, not just a better-looking one. It’s interesting to hear producer Stéphane Roy explain that it isn’t just honoring the games and story that preceded their game, but making a game that lives up to today’s standards, regardless of fan base or history. As Roy says, “we are more demanding” in today’s world.

Listening to the creative team, it’s clear that the main priority is building a game that opens up the future for Thief as a franchise – they’re not doing this out of nostalgia, after all. That goal is ambitious enough as it is, but just to make sure they didn’t coast to the finish line, Eidos Montreal has set their sights on mastering one of the most pitfall-laden genres in game design: stealth.

They’re not traveling completely uncharted waters, with the most recent stealth title from Bethesda, Dishonored (with which Thief seems, at first glance, to share a few features) achieving both critical and financial success and, lest we forget, Eidos’ last reboot attempt Deus Ex: Human Revolution doing the same. Leaving the choice of action or stealth up to the player worked beautifully in DX:HR (boss fights aside), so it’s no surprise to hear the studio use the RPG in order to win skeptics over to their side.

Even though Eidos is already committing to players being able to play throughThief without killing anyone, they’re also on record as intending to make the game about more than just stealth. The developers have a difficult task on their hands, with shadows, combat, AI and the realization of their proposed game world all alluded to in the video above. The good news is they’ve got plenty of time to get it right.

For now we remain cautiously optimistic, given how well Eidos Montreal managed to not just breathe new life into Deus Ex, but deliver a solid game regardless of the name on the box. Doing the same for Garrett’s thievery may not be the gameThief fans have been begging for, but we’ll be happy if the resulting game offers a worthwhile stealth adventure.

Which news surrounding the Thief reboot do you find most encouraging? Their commitment to stealth, their technical prowess, or the lack of competitive multiplayer in favor of a stronger singleplayer experience?

Expect more details on Thief to arrive as the coverage continues. Needless to say, we’ll keep you updated.

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‘Thief’ Reboot Won’t Have Competitive Multiplayer

It’s become fairly common practice in recent years for games, even those from traditionally single-player franchises like Mass Effect and Tomb Raider, to have a multiplayer component included in order to improve their marketability. With a limited amount of resources – both in terms of time and money – available to developers, some gamers feel that the pressure to include multiplayer diverts focus away from the main campaign, leaving games with a shortened or unpolished single-player experience and a bland multiplayer experience.

The recent success of games like Skyrim and Dishonored however, has proven that games with single-player only can sell exceedingly well even without a bolted-on multiplayer. It’s perhaps because of this that Eidos Montreal has confirmed that they won’t be including competitive multiplayer in next year’s long-awaited reboot of the Thief franchise.

In an interview with Eurogamer, producer Stephane Roy assures fans that the development team’s focus is entirely upon the single-player campaign, and that there definitely won’t be any competitive multiplayer in the game:

“Right now, let’s say competitive multiplayer, like the example you just gave us – Tomb Raider – there is no plan for that. We are looking to see if there is maybe a challenge mode with some online component, but I’m going to be very honest with you – our main goal with this team is to give you the best single-player experience, just to bring back this franchise, to convince you we’re part of the future and not something holding onto the past. It’s really demanding, so I don’t want to see my team wasting any energy… I want to see them focusing on that.”

Though officially the game will be the fourth in the series, the title has been shortened from “Thief 4” to just “Thief“, since it’s a reboot rather than a sequel(though the recent CG trailer showed that Garrett has his mechanical eye, meaning that the game must take place after Thief: The Dark Project). It also appears that Stephen Russell, who has been the voice of Garrett the Master Thief since the first game was released in 1998, has been dropped and been replaced by a new voice actor. With that in mind, it’s probably for the best that the developers are at least maintaining the unique focus upon a single-player story campaign that the games are known for.

As a fan of the Thief games who views “change for the sake of change” with an exceedingly wary eye, I can’t help but feel encouraged by Roy’s words. In many cases, added multiplayer campaigns can feel tacked-on, uninspired and poorly-implemented, and the Thief universe doesn’t lend itself naturally to multiplayer. After all, the prime appeal of the Thief games is sneaking around unnoticed all by yourself, getting increasingly more creeped out by the surroundings, and keeping an ear to the ground for passing guards. Having a team of people scurrying along behind you would probably detract from the atmosphere.

That’s not to say that multiplayer in a Thief game would be impossible to implement; though Garrett generally doesn’t play well with others, there’s always potential for a game where players take on the roles of the different factions of the city, or perhaps setting up a Thieves Guild in which players help each other to raid houses for loot. After all, I was sceptical when they introduced multiplayer to theAssassin’s Creed games, but the stealth-based, back-stabbing mechanics of the single-player campaign were actually transferred over rather well.

In short, multiplayer might not be the worst thing to happen to the Thief franchise if it does eventually come along, but right now I don’t think there are any fans clamoring for it.

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Thief will be dipping into your pockets some time in 2014.

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‘Thief’ Can Be Completed Without Killing

When Thief 4 was unveiled early last week, many gamers were excited to return to the world of Garrett, the series’ eponymous klepto. However, one section of the game’s reveal trailer gave fans pause about new developer Eidos Montreal‘s approach to the franchise.

More specifically, fans were concerned that Thief Game Director Nicolas Cantin was taking the design of Garrett in a different direction. While discussing Garrett, Cantin explained that the team at Eidos Montreal wanted Garrett to feel less Gothic and more “mainstream.”

However, Cantin has come out to set the record straight on Thief, and to put fans at ease. When saying Garrett would be more mainstream and less Gothic, the team at Eidos Montreal were using those terms as a point of comparison between an early iteration of Garrett, one that was a lot more Gothic (i.e. black fingernails).

The Garrett gamers will play as in Thief, on the other hand, will be closer to what fans remember. If you don’t believe us, just check out the first screenshots for the game.

Regardless, there are still some questions fans have regarding Thief, namely how closely this iteration will resemble past games from the franchise. In an interview from last year, Eidos Montreal revealed they were exploring gameplay mechanicsbeyond straight stealth with Thief.

Rest assured, though, that there will still be plenty of stealth action to go around in this game. Yes, that means players can complete the entire game without ever killing a single soul.

However, a sneaky suspicion tells us that Thief‘s experience will extend to include a more direct approach, similar to Arkane Studio‘s 2012 release Dishonored, a game that was cut from the same cloth as Thief. In that game players could also complete the campaign without killing an enemy, but if they ended up in a tight spot there was never the feeling that all was lost.

That said, if Eidos wanted to go full tilt with Thief , and make the game a fully-fledged stealth experience, we’re sure fans would be equally as pleased. Whether that game will, to borrow Cantin’s phrasing, have a mainstream appeal is another thing.

How would you like to see Thief approach stealth? Will you attempt to play through the game without killing an enemy?

Thief is targeting a 2014 release on the PC, PS4, and other next-gen consoles.

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‘Thief’ Reboot Announced, Coming 2014

Fans of Thief have been waiting long enough to hear of Eidos Montreal‘s plans for the franchise, and the wait is over. Thief 4 is a reality, and is currently in development for a 2014 launch. The long-awaited reboot, simply titled Thief has claimed the cover story of Game Informer‘s April issue, and with it, a full unveil of the character design, setting, and peek behind the scenes has arrived.

The titular stealth character, Garrett, has received some updated visuals and entirely new levels of attention in his weapons and traversal. The images certainly speak louder than words, but the words from Eidos Montreal won’t hurt in building excitement, either.

Open-ended gameplay and giving players the choice of how to tackle specific missions or tasks have quickly become buzz words in modern open-world game design, with the finished products often varying in success. But considering how strongly customization and choice was emphasized in Eidos Montreal’s last reboot,Deus Ex: Human Revolution, they’ve more than earned the benefit of the doubt.

Here’s an update from the developers themselves, courtesy of Game Informer:

These days, it’s hard to mention the words ‘stealth’ and ‘steampunk/fantasy’ in the same sentence without somehow addressing the success of Dishonored, also building both action and stealth into core mission design. But as the team points out, Garrett is not “renowned” in the game’s world, meaning guards aren’t jumping at the chance to shoot him on sight.

While that might mean that clambering up the walls of the Victorian-style City isn’t entirely necessary, it won’t be any less fun. Garrett is a thief, after all – a fact made perfectly clear by the studio’s glimpse into the mind of the character, and the world in which players will operate:

Time has moved on. Power has shifted. New greed replaces the old.
But to remain free in the City of chains – that is still the greatest prize.
First I stole to survive… then I survived to steal.
I am one man; I hear your secrets, see your hidden truths.
I am the shadows, the dark and deadly, the velvet night. You will not see me coming.

I am Garrett… What’s yours is mine.

Those skills and will to survive will come in handy for Garrett, as a plague hits the residents of the City, and social unrest grows toward a boiling point. How that factors into the overall story isn’t clear, but the released screenshots and concept art prove it should make for one entertaining environment. Have a look:

The word ‘reboot’ tends to raise some hackles among the gaming world’s most devoted followers, especially when the property being rebooted has yet to fall out of favor. However, the studio’s general manager Stephane D’Astous maintains that they’re not going to fix anything that isn’t broken, but update the property for fans both old and new:

“We’re handling a precious gemstone with Thief. Fans remember the original games very fondly and we want to preserve that essence – which we have excellent experience of doing at Eidos-Montréal – whilst also introducing Thief to a brand new, next-generation, audience…Our goal is to deliver the fantasy of being Garrett, THE master thief, and we’re building this game around that core experience.”

The studio’s website lists a release date of 2014 for the PC, PlayStation 4 and “other next-gen consoles,” so for now it seems that whatever Eidos Montreal has planned, it’s too substantial for the Xbox 360, PS3 or Wii U. If true, Thief is one of the first truly next-gen games being detailed at this point. In case anyone needed another reason to pay attention.

Expect more details on Thief to arrive as the coverage continues. Needless to say, we’ll keep you updated.

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Eidos Montreal Employee Hypes Upcoming Announcement – Thief 4?

Eidos Montreal has been talking about rebooting its wildly popular Thief franchise for years. The last game in the franchise was released almost 10 years ago and it may be just about time for a new installment. The release of a new Xbox andPlayStation gives such a title a good platform to launch from so it seems only fitting that we could be expecting a Thief related announcement soon.

Alexandre Richer, generalist/UI programmer from Ubisoft who left Eidos in January, recently posted about an “unannounced project” on his LinkedIn account and speculation is pointing towards the inevitable Thief 4.

Fans of the series and video games media share the common hunch that Richer is referring to the new, still unannounced Thief game which was said to be in development for quite some time now. Considering the release of the new consoles and the speculation that Thief 4 would be a next-gen title, the news hits at an appropriate time.


[Unannounced Project]

Taking part in the development of the User Interface for a currently unannounced project, using Scaleform technology.
Entire development of the user interface done in C++.

More details to come within the upcoming months.

Eidos has had its hands busy with its wildly popular Deus Ex: Human Revolutionand before Adam Jensen returns for a sequel, it’s time for a followup to the lastThief game which released back in 2004. “More details to come within the upcoming months,” seems to indicate that such a title will have a presence at E3 2013, and we assume it’ll be available on the PS4 and next-gen Xbox.

The sophisticated technology in the new consoles should be enough to make a new Thief game look amazing with its Medieval/Steam-punk setting. Whether this will be an exclusive or multi-platform is also up in the air as of right now, but if Deus Ex is of any indication, we expect Thief 4 to hit PC and all of the Sony/Microsoft home consoles.

In an earlier interview at GDC 2012, Studio General Manager Stephane D’Astous stated that the new game (Thief 4) would bring more than just stealth to the table. They want to deliver a familiar but different venture and even might bring in elements from Deus Ex, which could lead to an entirely new experience.

The new console specs and the direction that Eidos goes with the project will offer a much needed revitalization for the series, and hopefully bring in an entirely new generation of games to the franchise who otherwise would have never played a game in the series. Do you think the Thief franchise could make a comeback after its 10 year absence? Would you be excited to see a new game in the franchise? Let us know in the comments below!

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Eidos Looking to Expand ‘Thief 4′ Beyond ‘Just Stealth’

Rebooting an old video game franchise — and a classic one at that — can be a daunting affair for any developer; it’s never quite as simple as picking up where the last game left off. As times change, so do graphics and gameplay conventions. The present audience might be older and more selective in their interest, or younger and uninitiated to the game’s legacy. Storytelling angles seen as panache in the one decade might be disregarded as tired gimmicks in the next.

Eidos Montreal found themselves facing this challenge last year when they took on development for Deus Ex: Human Revolution. They didn’t just want the sci-fi/cyberpunk RPG reboot to be a time capsule for an era gone by. They wanted the futuristic theme of Adam Jensen’s next story to walk on its own two feet, speak with it’s own voice, wear its own clothes. Its ancestral lineage would be honored at the same time, sure, just not to the point where it intruded on the new format. (And it worked. Our Deus Ex: Human Revolution review awarded a 4.5 out of 5 to the game back in August.)

And so it’s appropriate that Eidos Montreal isn’t wavering from this auteurist approach with their next great reboot undertaking, Thief 4. According to studio general manager Stephane D’Astous, who spoke to OXM at GDC, the project will “bring more than just stealth” to the table for the cloak-and-dagger series that last made its debut in 2004 with Thief: Deadly Shadows.

“We have more international staff working on Thief, which brings a great flavour to the game. There are a lot of challenges to bringing back a great cult IP, but we consider it like a new IP and we are going to respect the spirit of the franchise like we did with Deus Ex.”

“Deus Ex was the kick-start of this new series of great games, and Thief will be part of that. We don’t want to deliver the same each time. Our mandate is to bring new stuff to the table; games that we’ll be talking about for years.”

What does this mean for Thief 4 and its stealthy heist-extraordinaire protagonist Garret? Possibly the same thing it meant for Adam Jensen and Deus Ex in 2011. It’s been a while, but Deadly Shadows was hailed for the way it expanded into an open-world exploration of the series’ medieval, steampunk universe; don’t be surprised if Eidos takes things a step further by weaving a few RPG and character progression elements into the main campaign. Also, considering we live an an age when multiplayer’s absence is a rarity, Thief 4 would hardly be sneaking up on anyone if it rolled out an online component similar to Assassin’s Creed orSplinter Cell.

That being said, we’re still speculating at this point. The developer comments here are just as vague as any other insights regarding Thief 4 over the years (a rumored GDC 2011 reveal turned out to be false hope). Hopefully, though, D’Astous’ willingness to discuss the project — and his ambitious optimism for its future — are signs of more to come.

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Thief 4 To Be Revealed at GDC?

Does anyone remember a little game series called Thief? The next instalment in the fabled series is long overdue, but that’s likely to change soon. Eidos’ Thief series hasn’t been seen since it made its last appearance with Thief: Deadly Shadows in 2004 on the PC and original Xbox, but word has it that Garret (the game’s main protagonist) will finally emerge from the shadows at this year’s upcoming Game Developers Conference.

News of a possible Thief 4 reveal comes from the official GDC site where Eidos Montreal is scheduled to do a presentation called “Stealing Sound: Generative Music in THIEF.” The details about the GDC presentation only confirming that “Eidos Montreal’s new THIEF” will be talked about for the first time publicly at the event. This is huge news for all fans of the series that have been waiting over six years for news on their beloved franchise.


“Innovative audio has been at the heart of the original THIEF titles and Eidos Montreal’s new THIEF is no exception, this presentation will mark the first time that the game has been spoken about publicly.”

This announcement, while awesome, hasn’t been the first talk of Thief 4 as it was previously mentioned by Eidos Montreal’s General Manager Stephane D’Astous when he stated that the team and himself were “in the early development stages for Thief 4” back in 2009. He also said that “this is an incredibly ambitious project and a very exciting one,” which certainly encouraged those waiting for the fourthThief.

Thief 4 was also tweeted about by PlayStation’s official Twitter several months ago, but the tweet was quickly taken down. PlayStation taking the liberty to tweet the game’s official forums also seems to be a sign that the game will at the very least be making an appearance not only on the PC, but PS3 and likely Xbox 360 as well. This is good news for a few generations who have likely missed out on playing any of the Thief titles, so prepare wannabe gamers because you may just have your future free time stolen by Thief 4.

No time has been set for Eidos Montreal’s Thief presentation, but that should change within the coming weeks. GDC is set to take place from February 28th to March 4th and it should be a good year not only for Thief 4 fans, but for Epic Games fans too. Stay tuned to Game Rant for more news on Thief 4 and everything else video game related as it becomes available.

Are you excited for some Thief 4 news? What other games would you like to see revealed at this year’s GDC?

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