The Thick as Thieves campaign will be ‘at least four hours’ in length, which is pretty short, but on the upside it’s a whole lot cheaper than I ever would’ve guessed

My heart sank a little lower than usual today as Otherside Entertainment announced that Thick as Thieves, the stealth-focused heist game set to arrive in May, will launch with a regular, undiscounted, all-day every-day price of $5/£5/€5.

This bothers me, first of all, because despite the absolute embarrassment of Underworld Ascendant, I’ve been holding out hope that taking on a spiritual successor to Thief—man, I love Thief—would provide the team with a real shot at redemption. Otherside heads Paul Neurath and Warren Spector are Great Old Ones of immersive sims, after all, and Neurath in particular has cred on that scene, as he was managing director of original Thief house Looking Glass Studios.

I felt a minor twinge of concern earlier this month when Otherside revealed that it had dropped the multiplayer PvPvE element that was, when Thick as Thieves was announced, such a core pillar of the whole thing. That was fine by me—I prefer solo Thieving experiences, thanks—but the extent and seeming suddenness of the change put me a little on edge.

It’s looking like that may have been the appropriate reaction, because now we’ve got this bargain basement price tag and the obvious question that follows: Why? And the answer seems to be that Thick as Thieves will not be an especially meaty game.

That was made apparent in the release date announcement, when Otherside said the game will feature “two playable thieves and two ‘dynamic and highly replayable maps,’ six pieces of gear, and 16 contracts to take on.”

It doesn’t sound like much to work with, and in today’s update the studio confirmed it, saying the Thick as Thieves is intended to serve “as an introductory campaign,” estimated to be “at least four hours” in length. Otherside said the small-scope release “reflects the team’s desire to bring players into the world sooner, and to give the team the flexibility to develop additional content informed by how players engage with the game.”

It’s an interesting gambit. You can’t go too wrong for a fiver, after all, and that could add up to a more sizable player (and revenue) base than Otherside would’ve pulled in at a higher price point.

Personally, though, I find it disappointing: I didn’t necessarily have high hopes for Thick as Thieves, but I had hopes, and Otherside straight-up telling me that its game is worth slightly less than what I’d pay for a family-sized bag of Lay’s All Dressed, well, it’s disheartening.

Even so, I hold out hope that I’m being an unjustified Debbie Downer about the whole thing, and that this turns out to be a business strategy masterstroke—and that Thick as Thieves itself is the stealth-oriented immsim of my dreams. For five bucks, I can afford to find out (and so hey, maybe it really is a business strategy masterstroke), and that’s what Otherside and publisher Megabit are counting on.

“We’re confident that the $5 price point will entice players to experience the world of Kilcairn for the first time while fairly reflecting the fact that this initial campaign is an introduction to the world of Thick as Thieves,” Megabit told PC Gamer. “We also feel that the content included—16 contracts, two dynamic and replayable maps and a four-plus hour campaign—offers great value for money.

“Ultimately, we want to welcome as many players as possible into Kilcairn and feel this is a great price to do so.”

Thick as Thieves is set to launch on Steam and the Epic Games Store on May 20.