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Thief's controversial QTEs ditched, Eidos Montreal confirms

But no swimming.

Stealth reboot Thief no longer includes any quick time events, developer Eidos Montreal has confirmed.

The change was revealed in a Q&A post with the game's development team, posted on the official Eidos Montreal blog.

"We're not implementing them," studio spokesperson Valérie Bourdeau explained. "To begin with, there were very few instances of QTEs in the game; in fact there was only one in that whole hour-long E3 demo.

"However, given the strong reactions it evoked in the press and the community, it was an easy decision to do away with them entirely. So we're not doing it. No quick time."

Other features discussed by the development team included confirmation that game won't feature any swimming sections, and details of the "hardcore" difficult mode where you can toggle modifiers to make your playthrough more challenging.

"Hardcore mode... allows players to customize the game in a number of ways. One of my favorites is the Ironman: if you die, game over. Hey, what is life without a little risk? We even added a "If the enemy detects you, you die" mode. Now combine that with the Ironman... You get the point!

"There is also the possibility to disable Focus and related abilities, as promised. This is in addition to the option to disable specific elements of the UI, like the reaction icons for NPCs. The UI list is pretty extensive, so don't worry, you will be able to get the game just the way you like it."

The lack of QTEs is the latest revision to the game as it nears release next February for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. The game's XP system was also recently culled due to negative fan feedback.

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