D6

By NEIL DAVIDSON
The Canadian Press

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Eidos Montreal has announced its second video game project - the latest instalment in the Thief franchise.

"It's huge news for Eidos Montreal," studio general manager Stephane D'Astous said.

The Montreal studio was launched in February 2007 and now has some 240 employees.

Its first project, announced in the fall of 2007, was Deus Ex 3, which is still in production.

"We're very excited, very proud because these are two cult games that are still in (Eidos's overall) portfolio," D'Astous added.

The last Thief game came out five years ago. There have been three titles in the franchise, which at the time was considered a leader in so-called stealth gaming.

"It was one of those games that was so classic that if you want to do a new version, you have to be very serious about it," D'Astous said.

"And we're honoured that Montreal was chosen among all the other studios of the Eidos group to work on these two projects."

D'Astous is asking for fans of the franchise to visit the studio website (www.eidosmontreal.com) to check out the Thief 4 forum where they can make suggestions to the developers.

There is no time frame yet for the release of Thief 4.

"These games are so dense, so huge in their content, it's very very premature at this point to announce even a vague seasonal window for its launch," D'Astous said.

There is also no release date yet for Deus, although D'Astous describes the game as being in "full production."

"We have one chance to do this right," he said.

"It's going to be our first project. There's a lot of expectations, very high expectations. Good pressure, as I call it, and the team is working hard. We'll be announcing that type of information maybe later in the year."

The studio continues to recruit people, hoping that such titles will attract top talent. D'Astous is looking for at least 40 people in the next six months.

"I think that's also very good news for Montreal in general because the gaming industry here is continuing to grow despite the (ongoing) financial situation," he said.