A possible leak coming out of Straight Up Films suggests that a fifth sequel to the Eidos Montreal game Thief may be in production.
Since launching in 2014, the future of the Thief franchise was uncertain. At the time, the studio's stance was that they were going to see how the title was received before making any plans for a follow-up. The game, which is the fourth in the franchise, ended up with mediocre reviews by critics and players. TechSpot's Metascore for it was 68 with a majority of the reviews tabulated being "bad."
Since then there had been no word from Eidos on the future of the franchise, and it seemed as if the series was dead. Then last year, Deadline Hollywood reported that Straight Up Films had announced that it was producing a movie adaptation of the game jointly with Roy Lee and Adrian Askarieh. Adam Mason and Simon Boyes from Thief publisher Square Enix were said to be working on the script.
"Widely considered to be one of the greatest games ever created, a fifth sequel is currently in development to be released in step with this motion picture adaptation."
After the film announcement, details had been scarce on the project. However, an update on the Straight Up Films website indicates that a sequel game is being produced in conjunction with the movie.
"Widely considered to be one of the greatest games ever created," says SU,F. "A fifth sequel is currently in development to be released in step with this motion picture adaptation."
Polygon contacted Square Enix for comment, but a representative said that "the company had nothing to announce at this time."
If the owner of the IP is refraining from making an official statement, it would seem that Straight Up Films may have accidentally spilled the beans. Of course, like all unofficial announcements, take this one with a grain of salt.
There is no word yet on a release date or even a cast for the film. Additionally, the Eidos Montreal crew is currently at work on Shadow of the Tomb Raider. So a new Thief game would likely be in the very early pre-production stage at best.