Deus Ex lead Warren Spector looked at immersive sims and "thought we could do better" – enter Thick as Thieves, a PvPvE "stealth action game, with a capital S and a capital A"

Thick as Thieves characters lunging at treasure
(Image credit: OtherSide Entertainment)
Thick As Thieves - Announce Trailer - YouTube Thick As Thieves - Announce Trailer - YouTube
Watch On

The stealth-action game Thick as Thieves comes from some of the creators of the influential Thief game series, but the new title from OtherSide Entertainment and Megabit adds one very important wrinkle to the stealth immersive sim genre: you aren’t the only player trying to steal what you’re after.

Thick as Thieves, which had its first major reveal during The Game Awards today, December 12, is a PvPvE game that takes players to a metropolis in an alt-history version of the early 1900s. The curving cobblestone streets of a North British-style city are lit by neon and subtle magic, with thieves prowling the rooftops and roaming the sewers.

The core game loop sees four thieves — each controlled by a different player and each with their own techniques and equipment — balancing individual quests that progress their character’s story and a main job where they’re directly competing with each other to pull off a great heist on behalf of their thieves’ guild. There’s no "right" way to pull off a perfect score; you could sneak through an entire mission without being seen once, or barge in at the right moment to KO a rival thief in an ambush and swipe all their hard-earned (ill-gotten) gains. Just make sure you watch out for guards and other environmental obstacles — or even put them to use by siccing them on your rivals.

"Typically immersive sims haven’t had that flow that a lot of games had. And we thought we could do better," Warren Spector, one of the main creators behind Thick as Thieves (and also the Thief and Deus Ex games), told GamesRadar+ at a preview event before The Game Awards. "We said, 'Let’s make a stealth action game, with a capital S and a capital A.'"

Thick as Thieves will attempt to steal gamers’ hearts in 2026 when it’s released for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Check back later this week for more in-depth info from GamesRadar+’s preview of the game.

And check out all our Game Awards 2024 live coverage.

James Grebey
Contributor

James is an entertainment writer and editor with more than a decade of journalism experience. He has edited for Vulture, Inverse, and SYFY WIRE, and he’s written for TIME, Polygon, SPIN, Fatherly, GQ, and more. He is based in Los Angeles. He is really good at that one level of Mario Kart: Double Dash where you go down a volcano.

Read more
Screenshots of stealth in Thick as Thieves
"Stealth is the engine that makes this": Thick as Thieves is putting a multiplayer spin on everything we love about immersive sims
Big in 2025 montage header image for Den of Wolves, showing some cyberpunk visuals, a heist, and the masked crew
Den of Wolves' cyberpunk vibes are more than a gimmick, adding greater stakes and complications to the co-op heist genre
Screenshot from Styx Blades of Greed's reveal trailer, showing the titular green goblin gliding atop a grimdark fantasy city.
Genre giants Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell might not be kicking like they used to, but underrated stealth gem Styx is coming back for another game
The Stone of Madness screenshot of Alfredo and Eduardo facing a large moveable crate, with an enemy standing guard outside the room.
Escaping an asylum hidden in an 18th century Spanish monastery is a curious concept for a stealth game, but I couldn't put this one down
Paragliding in Exoborne towards a rig
Exoborne is striving to be an approachable open-world extraction shooter with a strategic edge: "I don't think there's anything quite like it"
Skin Deep
I went from "I hope this is good" to "this might be GOTY" within 5 minutes of picking up the Steam Next Fest demo for this ridiculous stealth game
Latest in Stealth
A brightened screenshot from Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes.
Hideo Kojima knows fans thought Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes was too short, as he thinks back to negative comments: "'Why would they sell a trial version even at a low price?'"
Screenshot from Styx Blades of Greed's reveal trailer, showing the titular green goblin gliding atop a grimdark fantasy city.
Genre giants Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell might not be kicking like they used to, but underrated stealth gem Styx is coming back for another game
Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot showing Yasuke kneeling and praying while wearing a traditional purple robe
Assassin's Creed Shadows is the first game in the series with "a fully customizable sandbox" as your base, which is where Yasuke and Naoe hang out and pet baby animals
The Stone of Madness screenshot of Alfredo and Eduardo facing a large moveable crate, with an enemy standing guard outside the room.
Escaping an asylum hidden in an 18th century Spanish monastery is a curious concept for a stealth game, but I couldn't put this one down
Skin Deep
I went from "I hope this is good" to "this might be GOTY" within 5 minutes of picking up the Steam Next Fest demo for this ridiculous stealth game
Metal Gear Solid 3 Delta screenshot
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater – Everything we know about the Metal Gear Solid 3 remake
Latest in News
Jack Quaid and Jensen Ackles in The Boys
Soldier Boy-centred The Boys prequel adds two stars in mystery roles for the upcoming superhero show
Jack Black as Steve in A Minecraft Movie.
Jack Black almost played a talking pig instead of Steve in the Minecraft movie, until Mojang realized "very, very late" that the story "needed an expert and host"
Yasuke looking over the water to a shrine during sunset in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows draws attention of Japan's Prime Minister, who says "defacing a shrine is out of the question" in real life, but politicians acknowledge "freedom of expression must be respected" in the game
Batgirl movie
Unearthed Daredevil-like fight scene from DC's canceled Batgirl movie gives us a taste of what we could have had
Ahead of his new Gundam series, Evangelion's director reveals he's currently writing scripts for five more anime projects
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury in The Marvels
Samuel L. Jackson shares the best advice that Bruce Willis gave him after making bad movies, and it led him to Nick Fury