Thief: The Dark Project is a first-person stealth game developed by Looking Glass Studios and published by Eidos Interactive for Windows on 1 December 1998. Development began in April 1996 and took about two and a half years on a budget of about $3 million; Greg LoPiccolo was project director.
Thief is credited as the first game to use light and shadow as a stealth mechanic, with a gem-shaped meter showing how visible the player is. Sound spreads through the levels, floor surfaces change how loud footsteps are, and guards become suspicious and investigate noises. Higher difficulty settings add mission objectives rather than changing the levels. Its Dark Engine was also used for System Shock 2.
Thief Gold, released on 2 November 1999, added three missions and a level editor.1
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Thief: The Dark Project | Windows | Dec 1, 1998 | Eidos Interactive | 1 |
| NA | Thief GoldExpanded edition with three new missions. | Windows | Nov 2, 1999 | Eidos Interactive | 1 |
| EU | Thief: The Dark ProjectUK date. | Windows | Dec 4, 1998 | Eidos Interactive | 1 |
| WW | Thief GoldSteam re-release. | Windows | May 22, 2012 | Eidos Interactive | 2 |
Also known as: Thief Gold WW1
Box art by region
NA Thief: The Dark Project
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: Wikipedia.
Version differences
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ContentThief Gold
Thief Gold adds three new missions, reworks the original 12, moves some missions and talisman locations and includes a level editor plus a making-of video for Thief II.1
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ContentThief Gold
Thief Gold contains a hidden Blooper Reel mission that is not in the original release.3
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AudioOriginalThief Gold
The original release has a test-audio folder that was removed in Thief Gold.3
Translations
Where to play legally today
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GOG Purchase
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Steam Purchase
How to run it today
Buy Thief Gold on GOG or Steam; the GOG build is updated with NewDark and TFix Lite for Windows 10 and 11.
- Thief Gold on GOG gog.com
Best version
The GOG edition of Thief Gold includes the original Thief: The Dark Project, the NewDark engine update, TFix Lite, controller support and the DromEd editor.4
Reception
Thief has a Metacritic score of 92 and sold about 500,000 copies worldwide by May 2000, Looking Glass's best seller. GameSpot gave it 9.1/10, and Time named it among the 100 greatest games in 2012.1
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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