An all-new Thief game was announced during State of Play, but it's a VR game so who cares

I've been waiting more than 10 years since the botched Thief reboot for a new game in the series, and now that it's happening all I can think about is the old "careful what you wish for" adage. Because coming later in 2025 is Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow.

Thief VR is a "reimagined" take on the once-great stealth series, taking players back to the City, "a place of shadows, ruled by the tyrant Lord Ulysses Northcrest."

"You are Magpie, a cunning thief orphaned by Northcrest’s brutality and shaped by the streets, who steals as the only means to survive," the YouTube listing states. "That is until you uncover something greater: a legendary artifact holding a legacy from the past."

For those not familiar with the series, that artifact—assuming the trailer isn't a big ol' misdirect, and spoilers ahead for a 27-year-old videogame, by the way—is the artificial eye constructed by the Hammerites for Garrett, the hero of the first three Thief games. And Garrett himself seems to somehow be contained within, although that voice at the very end—"I thought I was dead"—doesn't sound exactly like him. More like a pretty good imitation. You might even say that about the whole thing, although the "pretty good" part remains to be seen.

In any event, here's what's on the table:

• Steal with precision - Pickpocket guards, pry open hidden compartments, and by locks with tactile VR interactions.
• Master the Shadows - Stick to the darkness, evade patrols, and outmaneuver enemies with real-time stealth mechanics.
• Precision and Skill - Master tools like the bow, blackjack, and water arrows with realistic haptic
• Unravel a conspiracy in a city where shadows speak louder than words

All of that does sound like a Thief game, and it has the right look, if you count Deadly Shadows among them, which I sometimes do and sometimes do not depending on my mood. There's a decent chance that it could turn out to be a very solid VR experience. And as devoted as I am to Stephen Russell, if the Thief series is going to carry on, it probably is time for a new lead—or at least to start making moves in that direction.

None of which un-sours my mood. Superficial Thief trappings aside, the fact that this is walled behind VR makes it essentially a non-entity. Which I don't mean as a slight toVR fans, but simply a reflection of the fact that VR exclusivity limits the potential market size to the point where it's almost irrelevant. It is, quite frankly, a space for spinoffs and throwaways, and maybe I'm being stubborn or cranky (or both, I am old, after all) but it genuinely rubs me the wrong way to see Thief, after such a long absence, end up in that pile.

(In my defense, I am at least consistent on this front: I was also pissed off when new Splinter Cell game that turned out to be a VR thing back in 2020.)

Gloomwood creator Dillon Rogers may not feel quite so strongly about it, but he definitely has feelings.

PC Gamer's Fraser Brown, on the other hand, feels even more strongly about it: He called Thief VR "a huge slap on the face and kick in the teeth for everyone who has been waiting for more than a decade to return to the City." Boy, and I thought I was mad about it.

Thief VR is being developed by Maze Theory and published by Vertigo Games, whose previous releases include Metro Awakening and Arizona Sunshine, both of which are reasonably well regarded amongst the VR community, so that's a point in its favor if you're into that sort of thing. It's set to arrive this year and is up for wishlisting now on Steam, Meta Quest, and PlayStation VR2.