During the packed show that was The Game Awards 2024, OtherSide Entertainment and publisher Megabit revealed Thick As Thieves, a brand-new stealth-action game set to release in 2026. Thick As Thieves is the latest game from Warren Spector, known as the creator of the immersive sim design approach. His most famous work includes System Shock, Deus Ex, and even Epic Mickey. At OtherSide Entertainment, Spector serves as the Chief Creative Officer, where he has been a key part of this project.
During Summer Game Fest: Play Days this year, I had the chance to check out a brief 30-minute hands-off demo of Thick As Thieves, with Michael Fitch, Director of Product at OtherSide, playing the demo with a few other development team members who joined in online. While I still wish to get my hands on the game to experience it myself, I really liked what I saw.
Thick As Thieves pits you against three other players in a world that is brimming with activity. As a thief, your goal is to steal and claim treasure littered throughout various buildings on the map. The location of the objects you need to steal and the buildings where they are located change each round, so you cannot get too comfortable with a routine. You are not the only one in search of this object, though: three other thieves are also gunning for the same object as you, at the same time. The best part? You have no idea who the other thieves are – you just know that they are looking for the same thing as you.
These other thieves can kill you, taking you out of the round and eliminating your chance of victory. Additionally, there are also enemies throughout the map that act as security guards or citizens. If you alert any of these, your cover can instantly be blown, causing you to retreat and rethink your strategy – a move that could allow another thief to swipe the item you were aiming for. This PVPVE approach throws a huge curveball to the stealth genre in a way I don’t believe I’ve seen before. You’re required to be stealthy and sneak around a map while stuck in a race against other players, and while also trying to avoid enemies who may spot you and alert others.
At the beginning of each round, you’ll select a character. Each of these is equipped with unique abilities and mechanics, which opens up new playstyles depending on how you like to approach things. One example is the Chameleon, who has the ability to instantly clone any person on the map and disguise himself. There’s also a thief who has the ability to respawn if killed. As you can see, each thief has one major card to deal, which can quickly shake up matches. Which thieves are your enemies using? Is that NPC really an NPC, or is it another player? These are thoughts that will cross your mind mid-game. My biggest concern right now is the number of thieves, as only four choices feels a little low for a multiplayer-centered experience like this. However, if the gameplay has enough variety, I can see many players looking past that.
The gameplay I was able to watch involved all sorts of tools being used, including grappling hooks, poison darts, and more. You can use these however you’d like, but the goal remains the same: steal the treasure and safely store it in a stash. These stashes take time to seal shut, so you’d be wise to guard them. If another player happens to find the stash before it seals, they can take all of your treasure for themselves. There are also clues left by other players you can track, such as footprints, if a player decides to sprint around the map. Again, you can approach each mission however you’d like: if you wish to go sprint around and be as fast as possible, feel free. Or, if you decide to play it quietly and tiptoe around the map for maximum stealth, that works as well. I feel that I just got a taste of the gameplay mechanics, but I did really like what I saw.
Thick As Thieves looks like a lot of fun to play, yet I’m curious to get my hands on it to try for myself. The multiplayer aspect of the game was a question for me going in, but I was won over after watching it all come together. I think with friends, this could be a very fun time, especially on voice chat. Overall, I was pretty impressed with what OtherSide Entertainment has cooked up here with Thick As Thieves so far, and I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the game in the future.
Thick As Thieves is set to launch across Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store in 2026.
