Eidos’ iconic Thief franchise returns later this week with Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow. PlayStation LifeStyle spoke with Vertigo Video games Principal Designer Nick Witsel and Eidos-Montréal Artistic Director Steven Gallagher to study extra concerning the PS VR2 sport. It arrives on PlayStation 5 tomorrow, December 4, 2025.
“Step into the shadows in Thief VR. You’re Magpie, a crafty thief orphaned by Baron Northcrest and formed by the streets. Use VR mechanics to steal, evade, and outsmart the Metropolis’s forces. Your objective? A relic in Northcrest’s vault, which uncovers a far better artifact with a robust legacy,” says the official description.
Try our dialogue with the duo beneath, plus some unique idea artwork from the stealth sport.
PlayStation LifeStyle: One of many the reason why the unique Thief video games have been so progressive was the liberty gamers had in how they selected to strategy gameplay. How does Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow give gamers company in how they select to play and interact with enemies?
Nick Witsel: Certainly, Thief’s strategy has all the time been about offering gamers with obstacles and a large number of strategies to beat them. Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow continues this custom. Ranges are supplied with a number of paths to your goal, the place you might want to cleverly determine which manner works finest for you. Guards pose the largest threats, and whilst you have loads of instruments in coping with them, every thing carries danger. As an example:
- Utilizing your blackjack requires that you just get shut and in addition leaves you with an unconscious physique that is perhaps discovered.
- Throwing an object to create a distraction might lead to undesirable consideration from different guards.
- You would unlock a close-by door and go round, however you is perhaps noticed whereas choosing the lock.
And it’s in weighing these choices and deciding what to do this you immerse your self into the position of the Grasp Thief.
VR provides an actual tactility to the motion, particularly getting to make use of the totally different instruments, and sneaking round feels very pure. How does that immersion assist the stealth gameplay?
Steven Gallagher: VR is superior for peeking round corners or over partitions, but it surely’s particularly good at shortly checking your environment while not having to cease specializing in no matter sneaky enterprise you’re as much as. Let’s say you’re attempting to shortly decide a lock and slip by a door earlier than a pesky guard you possibly can hear close by spots you. This can be a susceptible place for a thief to be in along with your again to potential hazard and unable to shortly examine when you’re alone.
Enjoying a first-person stealth sport like this on a display like a TV or a monitor, you’re normally pressured to simply hope for the perfect or disengage and switch your physique to make certain you’re nonetheless secure. VR, nevertheless, lets you naturally go searching as you’d in actual life whereas retaining your arms and intention targeted on what you’re doing. I discover being stealthy in Thief in VR to be a very intuitive approach to play, which is a giant cause why it’s so enjoyably immersive.
The Thief lore is surprisingly wealthy, as followers know. What was Maze Idea’s strategy to the sport’s story and attending to view this world in a brand new, extra up-close manner?
Witsel: Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow is a sport made by followers of the franchise. There have been quite a lot of parts we needed to cowl, while additionally guaranteeing new gamers wouldn’t really feel misplaced. Telling the story from Magpie’s perspective, who is comparatively new to the Metropolis and nonetheless has loads to study, permits us to introduce gamers to the setting in a pure manner, whereas additionally permitting us to contain some acquainted faces and voices to information their manner.
It was so thrilling to listen to Stephen Russell within the trailer. How was it working with Stephen to get Garrett’s humorousness into this sport and produce again such a beloved character?
Witsel: He’s nonetheless bought it. Garrett was again. It was like this huge puzzle piece that accomplished the image. It’s been an unbelievable privilege to work with him.
Thief veterans will know what to anticipate, however what’s your finest recommendation for newcomers who’re checking this out first as a result of it’s in VR?
Gallagher: I assume do not forget that you’re a thief, not a fighter. You may defend your self if the worst occurs, but it surely’s higher to be one step forward of bother so that you don’t end up in it. The immersive nature of VR offers you all you might want to be a grasp sneak thief, so keep sharp, maintain your eyes open, and keep on with the shadows. They’ll by no means see you coming.
The unique PSVR {hardware} led to quite a lot of ports that weren’t pretty much as good because the PC counterparts. What impressed the staff essentially the most about PlayStation VR2 {hardware}?
Witsel: The OLED lenses are implausible at conveying the robust and moody ambiance of Thief’s lighting. Mild and darkish play a vital position within the expertise, so we are able to undoubtedly advocate the PSVR2 Headset for this sport.
