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[Update] Users Report Date-Related Thief Save Data Corruption, Square Enix Responds
Update: Following our original story yesterday, dozens of readers have reached out to us to explain the problems they are having across platforms. We've heard of two issues related to saves that seem to be related.
The first is a looping problem that prevents players from leaving Garrett's clock tower. Trying to enter the city returns players to home base when the load sequence is complete.
The other issue is that players are finding themselves unable to make new saves outside the clock tower. New saves aren't sticking, and loading a previous save bumps players back to a fixed point prior to April 1.
The issue persists, despite the clock winding past April 1. We'll update with more once we get additional news from Square Enix.
Original Story:
Starting this morning, we began receiving word from readers that their Thief saves have disappeared or otherwise been corrupted. Given the date, we were skeptical, but after investigating the multitude of complaints on the forums and hearing from Square Enix, we are confident there is a problem.
Players are reporting that manual saves are disappearing, and that older saves have been wiped of some data (mostly side quests). The issues can be fixed on Windows 7 machines by setting the date ahead to April 2, though that reportedly does not work for Windows 8 computers. Users are also reporting problem with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game.
"We're aware of an issue that seems to be affecting some Thief players, preventing them from completing some levels,” a Square Enix representative told us via email. “We're taking this very seriously – as a first step we're reading as many reports of the issue as possible, working to replicate it internally, so that we can understand what's causing it. We're sorry for any disruption to your game today, and we'll update you as soon as we have more information."
We’ll update as we know more. For now, we recommend not booting up the game until April 2. Thanks to the many readers who emailed us about this problem.
Our Take
This is probably the oddest story of the day, and we're interested in learning more about how it happened. If you’ve lost your save or have otherwise experienced corrupted data in Thief today, please email us and let us know what you’re experiencing.
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