From Press Release:
July 15th, 2026 – Two months after becoming the very first title selected through GOG Patron Voting, Thief: Gold officially joins the GOG Preservation Program. Following weeks of work from GOG’s reverse engineering team, the legendary stealth classic is now ready to play on modern PCs with a host of compatibility fixes, quality-of-life improvements, and accessibility features.
This Preservation Program release includes the original Thief: The Dark Project, allowing players to experience the game as it existed before the Gold edition. It also introduces German, French, and Polish localizations, updated graphics and audio defaults, improved UI scaling, optimized controls, and the latest NewDark 1.27 engine update.
One of the biggest additions comes thanks to GOG’s collaboration with the community. Together with creator Peter Wright, we’ve integrated the Gamepad Mod into the game and paired it with the GOG Input Wrapper, bringing full support for modern controllers – including radial menus, customizable controls, rumble, and compatibility with PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Logitech, and Amazon Luna controllers.
We are absolutely thrilled to welcome the original Thief into the GOG Preservation Program. With this release, we wanted to honor the incredible work the community has been doing for years. That’s why we’ve updated the GOG version with NewDark 1.27, bringing massive compatibility improvements for modern PCs. A huge shoutout goes to Peter Wright for his fantastic Gamepad Mod, which we’ve integrated alongside our own GOG Input Wrapper to make Thief play beautifully on modern controllers. And for the purists: you can now launch the original, pre-Gold version of the game with a single click in the launcher. See you in the shadows!
Adam “Adim” Ziółkowski, Technical Producer at GOG
The completion of Thief: Gold also marks the end of the very first Patron Vote – and the beginning of the next one. Starting today, GOG Patrons can vote for another classic to join the GOG Preservation Program. The new candidates are Nox™, Lands of Lore™ 1 & 2, Might and Magic® VII: For Blood and Honor®, Silver, and Albion.
In approximately two months, the winning title will receive the full GOG Preservation Program treatment from our reverse engineering team.
Learn more about the GOG Preservation Program, become a GOG Patron, and help us make games live forever by voting for the next preserved classic today!
