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Garrett returns! Thief announced for PC and PS4 as a franchise reboot

Written by: Oliver Snyders / 6 March 2013 / No Comments

We’ve known Eidos Montreal has been working diligently under the cover of darkness on the next Thief game (widely believed to be Thief 4) for quite some time now, but it was only very recently formally confirmed that the studio is developing the all-new ‘Thief’ for PC, PlayStation 4 and “other next-generation consoles,” with a 2014 release planned.

Garrett returns!

Eidos Montreal is of course known these days as the team behind Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and also helped release Tomb Raider this week by creating the multiplayer component of that game.

Thief, however, has been the team’s focus for a number of years and Square Enix was ready to unveil it, getting us in the mood with this chilling string of text:

“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.”

General Manager at Eidos-Montréal, Stephane D’Astous, assured fans of Thief:

“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 Story So Far

As far as can be told, Thief seems to be a complete reboot of the classic series of stealth action games, originally brought to life by the legendary Looking Glass Studios all those years ago. Here’s the story setup for Thief:

“There is a rising tide of fear in The City. Hatred saturates every stone and whilst the rich prosper, the less fortunate face misery and repression. Ravaged with sickness and famine, they wait for something to change.

“Into this shadowy world steps Garrett, the master thief in a first-person adventure featuring intelligent design that allows players to take full control, with freedom to choose their path through the game’s levels and how they approach and overcome each challenge.”

We hope to bring you many more details and snippets of media over the coming days and weeks, but for now a simple question will suffice: Did you ever play the original Thief games?

And another: Are you looking forward to a new Thief game to teach all of these current ‘assassin’ games how true stealth and guile is handled in a videogame?

You can watch a cover reveal trailer from Game Informer which sees a few of the developers speak about the pressure of creating a new Thief (or ‘Teef’) game:

Thief Coverage Trailer – Game Informer