"Thief II" was designed to build on the foundation of its predecessor. In response to feedback from players of "Thief", the team placed a heavy focus on urban stealth in the sequel, and they minimized the use of monsters and maze-like levels. The game was made with the third iteration of the Dark Engine, which had been used previously to develop "Thief" and "System Shock 2". "Thief II" was announced at the 1999 Electronic Entertainment Expo, as part of an extended contract between Looking Glass and Eidos to release games in the "Thief" series. Looking Glass neared bankruptcy as the game was developed, and the company was kept running by advances from Eidos.