Article: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-01-06-thief-4-set-to-steal-gdc

Insert pessimism.

Can't open your link here at work but will try later at home.

But I hope GOG will add Thief Deadly Shadows asap.

Why Deadly Shadows? Shouldn't they start with the earlier and better ones?

(all three are equally unlikely, so who cares)

Sure, they should do em all. Do you think the first two were better? I haven't played them, just always wanted to and I don't think they run on Windows 7 until GOG gets them.
And why do you think they are so unlikely?

Thief 2 is by far the best... last I checked they are a complete pain in the ass to get working on Windows 7, but like almost every game it is indeed possible.

Oh, definitely. Neither of the three games is perfect, but the earlier two really are much better. Compared to The Dark Project and The Metal Age, Deadly Shadows is far too linear and extremely simplified; the story is bland and for some odd reason, the iconic FMV mission briefings of the first two were completely removed. It certainly looks a lot better, and the Cradle level was excellent, but on the whole, the gameplay doesn't hold a candle to the previous games.

As to why they are unlikely, the rights to the intellectual property belong to Eidos, i.e. Square Enix these days, and I wouldn't be surprised if some parts of the games themselves were in the hands of EA -- I may be wrong, but Looking Glass Studios games unfortunately tend to do that kind of thing. Neither company seems too eager to jump on the GOG bandwagon, sadly.

"to create a musical aesthetic that pushes away from the shadow of film"; "our custom generative system (GRAMPS)". Those sound nice to me. Why the pessimism?

I'll only be pessimist if they develop this based on a modern setting, make a Splinter Cell out of Thief. There's also the Assassin's Creed influence in the market, you may won't feel vulnerable as you felt in the very first Thief.

Also, notice the name of the game, three times: THIEF. GDC misleading writing? or a reboot? or a subtitle to be added later just like with Deus Ex: H. R.?

At the Eidos Montreal's games page the title is referenced in all sorts: Thief 4, Thi4f, TH4.

more at: http://forums.eidosgames.com/forumdisplay.php?f=268

The first thief game is being sold on Gamers Gate. Dunno why the second one isn't, but it seems some of the rights issues are cleared up. GoG's DRM policy may be another obstacle. I wouldn't be surprised to see all the Thief games more widely available in the future to drum up interest in Thief 4. That said, the games are going to be a pain to get working on a modern OS. I'm having some troubles with them, but none of the problems or solutions I've looked up seem that consistent.

On Topic: I can certainly add to the OP's pessimism. The levels in the first 2 thief games were enormous, and featured many ways to achieve your objective. I'm fearing we'll see something similar to SC: Conviction. That is, relatively linear levels and an emphasis on killing lots of bad guys, with less emphasis on stealth. The trend of niche genres like stealth and horror seems to be increasing the amount 'action' at all times, and decreasing the tension and patience that made them so appealing in the first place.

Developers seem to think that if killing 5 bad guys is fun, then taking out 50 must be 10 times as fun. Instead, whatever 'fun' there was simply gets spread out too much and it loses something in the process.

so they're not calling it "Thi4f" anymore? that's already a relief.

More of a reli4f.

Off: Hmm, there will be a Battlefied 3 talk. So, a reveal trailer is possibly coming in less than 3 months.

And DICE already said no more BFBC2 expansions. If I'm not mistaken that Thief on GG is just the first game, not the Gold edition. So they might have acquired obscure distribution rights for the base game only.

Tomb Raider is being rebooted by S.E., and I don't see why they would re-release the older games to overshadow the reboot and the recent isometric platformer game. And if Thief 4 is released as a reboot, then you'll have to happily wait by playing crappiest entry in the series, Thief 3; so that's a no re-releases possibility. Follow the Tomb R. news and what they do for it, as they might repeat the strategy for Thief later. Agreed. And the "press one button to eliminate all enemies".

I just found out Thief Gold can be purchased directly from Eidos, so they apparently own all of it. But Thief 2 isn't available even there. Another legal labyrinth, I suppose.

EDIT: The GamersGate version of Thief might actually be Gold, too. Both they and the Eidos store claim the game has 12 missions, which is only true for the non-gold version. It probably is the very same release, just badly labelled.

And looking at your post -- the gold is just an extended version of the first game, not a bundle of both.

Good to know, thanks Bazilisek.

There they are 9.99 pounds each, but don't know if I can purchase from a UK store. They also have a few of the Tomb R. games.
http://store.eidos.co.uk/pc-windows-download/Thief-The-Dark-Project-Gold.php

http://store.eidos.co.uk/pc-windows-download/Thief-3-Deadly-Shadows.php

Well only someone who bought it from GG could confirm this, I didn't.

My post, well you got what I mean. That that on GG could be the original game, without the added content of the Gold Edition release.

Shame that Thief 2 Gold never got released. I remember that a few modders were trying to complete it, but I don't know if the project is dead or not.

To add on to this thread, don't forget to check out The Dark Mod if you want to scratch that thiefy itch, ya taffers!