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Preorders are opening up for physical editions of Nightdive’s Thief Remaster, and at the high end, the studio is offering an homage to Thief’s iconic original PC big box packaging in that shape we all know and love, the trapezoid. The only problem? Nightdive and partner Clear River Games are only offering it for Switch/Switch 2 and PS5.
Why does this matter?
It doesn’t really, at least not as much as war and death and politics or whatever. But Thief’s original ’90s big box edition came in a jaunty little trapezoidal box unlike anything else on the market. It remains a visually striking, highly sought-after collector’s item. It’s fun, it’s memorable, and it’s a piece of PC gaming history. I’ve had to settle for my version of Thief Gold that came in a plain Jane regular box as a reissue.
It’s not super surprising that Night Dive and Clear River eschewed a PC version of this physical release—that’s fairly common these days, even in boutique indie special editions. I had a similar “we’re so back, it’s so over” reaction when I saw that indie RPG heater Dread Delusion’s limited physical edition had skipped PC.
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But the hurt feels new all over again when it’s a PC gaming icon like Thief, and a PC gaming phenomenon like the big box. I would have dropped a fat hundo on a physical PC version of Thief Remastered in a heartbeat—it’s why I live in an apartment and not a house.
And studios still do come out with physical editions of their PC games: My Baldur’s Gate 3 big box has pride of place in my office. All told, it’s just a slight bummer and frustration trying to drag down one of my most anticipated games. I’m still going to play the hell out of it when it comes out on December 3, though.
I’m rooting for GOG’s proposal to bring back the big box. The company seems to be considering a boutique service where you can purchase physical versions of the games in your library, which sounds pretty rad to me.
