Bethesda’s MachineGames, the developer behind the Wolfenstein games, is working on an officially licensed Indiana Jones project. Todd Howard will be the executive producer on the project, which will feature an all-original new story in collaboration with the newly formed Lucasfilm Games.
Bethesda and MachineGames released a brief cinematic teaser to announce the upcoming title. The shot pans slowly over a table full of books, maps, papers, and an old typewriter and camera. A passport and plane ticket can be seen, as well as a compass and the butt of a pistol. Finally the video lands on the iconic hat, which is lifted up to reveals the whip, all as a slow orchestral version of the Indiana Jones theme plays.
— Bethesda (@bethesda) January 12, 2021
The teaser doesn’t offer many hints about what kind of game MachineGames is developing, and Bethesda and the developer aren’t spilling the details just yet. In fact, it may be some time yet before we hear any more.
A new Indiana Jones game with an original story is in development from our studio, @MachineGames, and will be executive produced by Todd Howard, in collaboration with @LucasfilmGames. It’ll be some time before we have more to reveal, but we’re very excited to share today’s news!
— Bethesda (@bethesda) January 12, 2021
Bethesda says it will be “some time” before they reveal any more, and in Bethesda speak, that traditionally means that the game isn’t going to see the light of day for years to come. After all, we first learned about The Elder Scrolls VI and Starfield were both announced with vague teaser trailers back in mid-2018 with no additional word about either yet.
Immediate comparisons to Uncharted and Tomb Raider are coming up, given the obvious influences both of those franchises took from the Indiana Jones films. It’s also unclear what platforms Indiana Jones is being planned for. MachineGames being under Bethesda means it’s a Microsoft development studio following the Zenimax acquisition, however Indiana Jones isn’t being propped up as an Xbox exclusive right now. Current consensus says that the Disney-owned franchise will undoubtedly come to all platforms, while others point to Spider-Man’s exclusivity on PlayStation as proof that Indy could end up being a feather in Microsoft’s cap.
Indiana Jones also shows that Lucasfilm Games wasn’t just formed to house Star Wars games. It remains to be seen if Indiana Jones is a one-off license for the property, or if Lucasfilm Games plans to open the floodgates for more developers to license the franchise in various ways.
