Thief designer thinks the graphics arms race should have ended with 2010’s Alan Wake: ‘The fidelity curve has become outrageous’

Thief designer Randy Smith Evergreen, whose credits also include System Shock 2 and Dark Messiah: Might and Magic, thinks we need to chill out a bit when it comes to the graphics arms race. Specifically, he reckons the race should have stopped 16 years ago with Remedy’s original Alan Wake, which was quite a looker back in the day.

“The fidelity curve has become outrageous,” he tells us. “It’s become a spectacle. I remember it was back when Alan Wake came out that I was like, ‘OK, this is relatively photoreal. I know 100% that I’m on a ferry. I see that I’m going to an island in the Pacific Northwest. Why do we need more graphics? Because they just cost a ton.’ Like, I 100% get it. I’ve got the vibe. It feels right. What else are we doing with this graphics arms race, right?”

Quite a lot, it turns out. We had high-fidelity graphics that started to look photorealistic, but then it was decided that we needed lighting and reflections that looked better than real. None of these things serve any practical purpose, but now most games that fall into the AA or AAA categories feature ray tracing and a level of fidelity that’s not possible to enjoy—for most people—without DLSS trickery.

“I think Alan Wake is the fidelity everything needs to hit,” Smith Evergreen says. “Where you’re like, I get it. I get your vibes. I can tell what’s going on, and everything beyond that is gravy. Sure, would they prefer an immersive sim that’s got insane spectacle and gorgeous, Arkane Lyon quality vistas? Of course they would like that. But is it necessary for what you came to an immersive sim for? I’m not sure that it is.”

This ties into his belief that immersive sims shouldn’t be aiming for AAA—it misunderstands the audience, specifically its size. It’s just not enough to justify the cost of development.

“Like, you just have to put more money into them,” he said, “make a bigger and bigger immersive sim. It’s got to be AAA, and it’s got to sit right alongside Ghost of Tsushima and GTA 6, and it’s got to be a game that’s big enough to capture the public’s attention. But I think that might be a misread for the audience size of immersive sims.”

This isn’t something anybody is worrying about when it comes to Nightdive’s Thief remaster, which won’t be yassifying The City. Judging by what we’ve seen so far, it looks a lot like OG Thief.

“I’m super excited to see what they do,” says Smith Evergreen. “Nightdive seems very trustworthy, very passionate. I like the projects they’re choosing to remaster. So that’s going to be awesome to see.

“In a way, I’ll be able to play Thief again for the first time ever. I used to say that when I played Dishonored, that was the first time I ever played a Thief game. Because when you make a game, it’s just a totally different experience than having played it. But I feel like enough time has passed since I played Thief: The Dark Project that playing a remaster will probably feel very fresh for me. So I’m excited about that.”

We’re still waiting for a Thief: The Dark Project Remastered release date, and Smith Evergreen is currently working on a project that “you’ll hear about before too long”.

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