Thief 4 set to steal GDC?

By Fred Dutton Published 6 January, 2011

Eidos ready long-awaited reveal.

Thief 4 will make its long awaited debut at the annual Games Developer Conference in San Francisco next month, according to a schedule listing.

The timetable on the official GDC site, spotted on NeoGAF, points to a presentation called "Stealing Sound: Generative Music in THIEF".

According to the accompanying blurb, "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."

No exact date for the presentation has been pinned down yet, but GDC takes place between 28th February and 4th March.

The fourth entry in Eidos' classic stealth franchise was first confirmed back in May 2009. "We're in the early development stages for Thief 4, but this is an incredibly ambitious project and a very exciting one," said Eidos Montreal general manager Stephane D'Astous.

It's been a while since we last got to don Garrett's robe and sneak around stabbing people. The excellent Thief: Deadly Shadows came out back in 2004 on PC and Xbox.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (32) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Hantheman #1 1 year ago

    Awesome. Now please be good.

  • Nanocrystal #2 1 year ago

    I've never played a Thief game. I deserve a thorough negging. :(

  • TheHammerite #3 1 year ago

    Fucking great news! Been waiting for some info on this. What a great series

  • Phishfood #4 1 year ago

    I completely forgot this was in the works, I'm exited all over again

  • bratmandu #5 1 year ago

    @Nanocrystal - there ya go ya Taffer. Shame on you. If you get a chance but only have time to play one, try thief2 - when you play it you'll be amazed at how the games industry used to have such awesome non linear levels, excellent AI and stealth mechanics.

    I've been disappointed with the so called 'stealth' and 'ai' in most games since the thief series. Metal Gear, Splinter Cell, and pretty much every game that lauds stealth as a major selling point pales in comparison to the Thief games.

    You had to use your ears to hear guards coming, walk on carpet (or stick down a few moss arrows) to remain silent, douse torch lighting out with water arrows, make your own entry points to castles with a well placed rope arrow, or draw guards away by firing arrows at stone walls.

    Hiding bodies was essential, you would always keep a mental note of good body stashing places, because the last thing you needed was more guards on your ass - although there was combat - any more than two guards after you was pretty much a death sentence. You really really had to use stealth. I liked tryin to complete some levels without even touching one guard - stealing the target item and escaping completely undetected was quite satisfying.

    In my opinion, all those open world sandbox games of the 00s were the demise of decent stealth and ai in games.

  • M4RV #6 1 year ago

    @Phisfood:

    As a huge fan of the original Thief Games, is there anything to be excited with...?! Deadly Shadows was lackluster to say the least. I had the same feeling with Double Agent, after having played Chaos Theory.

    In other words, the games who really helped defined the stealth-based genre didn't have the follow-up they deserved. Shame really.
    Edited by M4RV at 06/01/11 @ 18:48

  • bratmandu #7 1 year ago

    @M4RV

    Deadly shadows was probably the weakest but I enjoyed it quite a bit, it had some good ideas like the wall climbing, and throwing down oil bombs so guards slipped on them - and often fell off a ledge to their death (i think it was deadly shadows that introduced the oil anyway). A decent attempt to update the series but I guess they didn't have the tech back then to make it incredible.

    It'll be interesting to see if they build on the series or muck it up altogether with the new game. I'll be watchin with interest.

  • chargen #8 1 year ago

    Hopefully it will be much better than the "excellent" Thief 3.

  • Masaroth #9 1 year ago

    Awesome news, heres hoping they dont mess it up. Hopefully they go back to the mission structure of 1/2 and ditch the kinda open world mission hub. Was not a fan of that in 3.

  • Wyrm #10 1 year ago

    Please, let's go back to Shalebridge :D

    But fuck the rest of Thief 3.

  • himynameisnathan #11 1 year ago

    literally, my favourite series ever.Tbh, even if they just said it's going well i'd probably have a mini heart attack.

  • peppergomez #12 1 year ago

    Get ready, you taffers!

    PS- why all the hate for Thief Deadly Shadows. Sure, it was a bit hobbled by claustrophobic levels but it was great game in its own right, and a nice end to (what was then) the trilogy. Full circle, so to speak.
    Edited by peppergomez at 06/01/11 @ 19:30

  • kupocake #13 1 year ago

    The greatest series to never have an excellent game. Can't wait for the next one.

    edit: dear negatives, you're reading the above sentence wrong. Or more likely not at all.

    edit 2: Every time you negative a post, God whispers the words 'Open World' and 'Parkour' into a Thief designer's ear.
    Edited by kupocake at 06/01/11 @ 23:09

  • RodHull #14 1 year ago

    Whilst not the greatest in the series, Thief 3 had The Cradle level which has to be one of my favourite sections of a game I've ever played.

  • White_Waffle #15 1 year ago

    Thief 1 was awesome, really great at its time, nowadays the really old engine and dead guards sticking in walls would certainly turn off most. Atmosphere, voice acting and art direction are still today very good. Remembering the upside down house which was very strange and thrilling.

    Thief 2 was also great although it was a little bit too much mechanical (the game universe) for my taste. Awesome mission design, and doing what they did with that old system shock 2 engine was outstanding.

    I also liked Thief 3 very much, i can understand that people would have preferred a sequel made by the same people that made the other 2 but still it's a great game. Seems to me like the Fallout 1/2 versus Fallout 3 thing. Or Deus Ex versus Deus Ex 2, well in the Deus Ex case, i didn't like the sequel so no complaint there.

    Please dear gods, let it be special like the early thief games and let people appreciate something that requires a bit more than being half awake on a couch getting entertained.

  • intpleeus #16 1 year ago

    Great news. I had suspected the franchise might be dead after the lackluster performance of Dealdy Shadows at retail. I had contented myself with the return of Deus Ex instead, but now it looks like we'll get both!

    *Crosses fingers*

  • Matfink #17 1 year ago

    After the disappointment that the new SSX appears to be, I hope this is gonna be good... better not be any portals in the middle of the levels though ffs!

    ed: but I don't have much hope, thinking about the way AAA games are going right now...
    Edited by Matfink at 06/01/11 @ 21:33

  • trooperdx3117 #18 1 year ago

    Surely the point of thief was that you dont stab people in the back eh Fred

  • X3Entente #19 1 year ago

    if i see a hint of cover based third person gameplay then they can fuck themselves

  • polaris70 #20 1 year ago

    Hope they go back to FPV. Mirror's Edge showed how immersive and agile a First Person View game can be nowadays. There is no real FPV games apart from shooters these days.

  • skuzzbag #21 1 year ago

    I really really love Thief games. It hurts man :(

  • andy10 #22 1 year ago

    @bratmandu - couldn't have put it better myself. The first Thief remains one of my all-time favourite games. Huge, sprawling levels with multiple paths, where you had to use your own ingenuity and creativity to stay out of sight. Wonderfully atmospheric environments: castles, cathedrals, mines, eccentric mansions. And I loved the way that ramping up the difficulty level would not only change your objectives but sometimes physically change the layout of the level. Triggering the alarm towards the end of 'Assassins' and having to navigate the city streets, creeping through the shadows while the guards were out looking for me, is one of my favourite gaming experiences.

    I don't have high hopes for Thief 4's gameplay but the characters/setting might tick some nostalgia boxes. As you rightly point out, 'stealth' games these days generally involve sticking to a couple of rigid pre-determined paths, following flashy arrows on screen that point you towards your next objective and engaging in the odd quick-time event. Sadly, I don't think the average gamer has the appetite or patience any more for Thief's free-form gameplay. Its slow exploration, underpowered main character and levels that could take several hours to complete, would probably turn many off. Shame.

  • Jamiesan #23 1 year ago

    Not only am I re-excited about Thief 4, but I'll be interested in what the audio guys have to say at the presentation. Did you know that the early Thief games were some of the first to pathnode sound effects around the level to your character, to give an authentic echo/volume per ear if you were using headphones. Awesome way to both up the atmosphere when sneaking around, and let you know which way someone is coming from when you hear them whistling.

  • peppergomez #24 1 year ago

    PPS- I seem to recall that Warren Spector led the design of Thief Deadly Shadows instead of Deus Ex Invisible War, which would explain why the former was awesome and the latter sucked (glaring your way, Harvey Smith).
    Edited by peppergomez at 07/01/11 @ 01:55

  • Orikk #25 1 year ago

    Looking forward to this.

    My dilema would be whether to get it on the PC (and in the process pretty much upgrade everything on my PC to enable me to run it!) or the 360?
    Edited by Orikk at 07/01/11 @ 09:00

  • SAMagic #26 1 year ago

    Anyone going to the bear festival tomorrow?!

  • subedii #27 1 year ago

    Tch. Couldn't pay me enough!



    For those that don't get the reference:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2ehZt4wa3k

  • oupe #28 1 year ago

    Awesome. But skip the zombies!

  • loopy #29 1 year ago

    Looking forward to seeing what the guys have to show. :)

  • peppergomez #30 1 year ago

    I thought it was "Anyone going to the bear races tomorrow"?


    I loved how dopey and complaining the guards were...Doh-dee-doh kinda thing.
    Edited by peppergomez at 07/01/11 @ 15:27

  • bratmandu #31 1 year ago

    "Are you taffing me?"

  • Skith666 #32 1 year ago

    Please be good
    Please be good
    Please be good!!!!
    *crosses fingers*