Remaster Nightdive’s expert take on the classic game ‘Thief: The Dark Project’
Nightdive Studios, based in Vancouver, Wash., has made its reputation from remastering and re-releasing dozens of classic out-of-print PC games. On Sunday, it announced its next project is 1998’s Cult Thief: The Dark Project.
The news came as part of PC Gamer’s PC Gaming Show 2026, which was part of this year’s Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles. The Fest, intended to replace the now-defunct E3, is a loosely organized series of live broadcasts, presentations, and broadcasts that set a year-round schedule for the video game industry.
Thief, from the legendary Looking Glass Studios, is one of the most influential PC games of the 1990s. Even if you’ve never played it or one of its sequels, like 2004 Deadly Shadowsyou have probably played one of its spiritual generations.
A thief is one of the first games that didn’t rely on scripts to move its levels forward. There is nothing you are “meant” to do to improve; you’re just thrown into a magical place and left to see the rest for yourself.
That’s an open way made A thief one of the seminal titles in the subgenre known as the “immersive sim,” as BioShock, Deathloop, and 2017 Deer, where the challenge and attraction come up with your own solutions over time.
A thief puts the player in the role of Garrett, a professional burglar in a magical city known only as the City, who takes on a job to steal a magical gem. This places Garrett, against his will, in the middle of a conflict between two opposing factions, which will determine the fate of the City.
Although Garrett can fight when he has to, he will usually lose. Instead, you’re meant to use stealth, intelligence, and evasion to achieve your goals, with tools like rope arrows, explosive bombs, traps and noise, and blackjack to sneak around.
“Thief didn’t just introduce hidden mechanics, it explained them,” wrote Stephen Kick, CEO at Nightdive Studios, in a press release. “With this monument, we have preserved the tension and ingenuity of the original while enhancing it for modern players, ensuring that its legacy continues to influence the way strategy games are played today.”
A reminder of Nightdive’s A thief planned to include everything from all versions of the game, including additional missions from 1999 Gold thief release again. It will also include a few quality-of-life bonuses such as mission selection, improved graphics, a weapon/item wheel to make it easier to use in-game items, and support for custom campaigns.
Kick founded Nightdive in 2012 when he found he couldn’t play his official copy of Nightdive. System Shock 2 again. Since then, Nightdive has rescued and re-released dozens of out-of-print PC games, such as. System Shock 2, Killing Time, Star Wars: Dark Forces, again Resurrection of the Trinity, in addition to both publishing and promoting full remakes of the original Systemic Panic.
Nightdive’s Thief: The Dark Project the remaster is scheduled to launch this winter on PlayStation 4 and 5, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store.
