Rumour: Thief 4 to feature Unreal 3 engine & online play

Posted January 16, 2012 by Luke Stratford in News.

Much anticipated stealth project Thief 4 may bring online gameplay to the table.

Rumblings from the NeoGaf forums have been turning up some significant details surrounding Eidos Montreal‘s next big project, Thief 4. If they turn out to be true, that is. A LinkedIn profile for one member of the Eidos Montreal staff, Colas Fievet, listed among his duties from August 2009 though to the end of 2010;

‘…networking, gameplay, debugging, online and offline tools on Thief4.’

Although the wording on resumes can often be very loose for the sake of space, it’s not the first time that the Thief franchise has drifted into multiplyer territory (albiet via the modding community), and it wouldn’t be the first time that a studio has capitalised on the work of fans to enhance further sequels. Obsidian made significant changes to the gameplay of Fallout: New Vegas, helped in no small part by the thriving mod community that grew around Bethesda’s Fallout 3. Simiarly, the Thief titles have had their own dedicated following, and this could simply be another studio taking those same cues from the community that supports them.

Somewhat more realistically, several other profiles from the same team list the Unreal 3 Engine as a resource, not totally suprising considering that even smaller, more ambitious projects such as Class 3 by Undead Labs are also getting their hands on the Unreal technology. More auspicious projects, including EA’s Mass Effect 3 and Batman: Arkham City, have already shown their use of the engine, with eye-popping results.

Actual confirmation on any of these rumours is still pending, but rest assured, you’ll find the news on BeefJack when it comes.

Tagged as Eidos Montreal, Multiplayer, NeoGAF, Online, Online gaming, Rumour, Thi4f, Thief 4, Unreal 3 Engine