Thief will have "no competitive multiplayer," says Eidos

Thief will not contain competitive multiplayer, according to Eidos.

Speaking with Eurogamer during a preview event, Thief may eventually contain some sort of online element by the time it's finished, but it won't be multiplayer.

"Right now, let's say competitive multiplayer, like the example you just gave us - Tomb Raider - there is no plan for that," said producer Stephane Roy. "We are looking to see if there is maybe a challenge mode with some online component, but I'm going to be very honest with you - our main goal with this team is to give you the best single-player experience, just to bring back this franchise, to convince you we're part of the future and not something holding onto the past.

"It's really demanding, so I don't want to see my team wasting any energy... I want to see them focusing on that."

Roy said some sort of challenge mode "could be interesting," with an online component, but "no competitive multiplayer, single-player is asking a lot of energy."

Thief is due out for PC, PS4 and other next-gen systems in 2014.