New Indiana Jones game: everything we know so far
Lucasfilm Games has officially announced that a new Indiana Jones game is in the works at Wolfenstein developer MachineGames, with Bethesda Game Studios head Todd Howard set to be executive producer of the project.
At the moment, we know very little about the new Indiana Jones game; even its official title is a mystery. Nor do we have any confirmation on what the story will be, when we'll get to play it, or which platforms it will release on, now that Microsoft has acquired Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax Media. However, StarWars.com, Lucasfilm's official news outlet, has thrown us a bone, revealing that the game is an "original, standalone tale set at the height of the career of the famed adventurer".
Bethesda hasn't given any indication of when it will reveal more about the game but with E3 2021 going ahead as an all-digital event in June, we're hopeful that the show could bring some additional details.
It may not be much, but it's enough to get us excited. Want to know more? Then read on for everything we know about the new Indiana Jones game.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? A new standalone Indiana Jones game
- When can I play it? TBC (but unlikely anytime soon)
- What can I play it on? TBC but Xbox platforms look likely
New Indiana Jones game release date
Unfortunately, there's no word on when we'll get our hands on the new Indiana Jones game, but we're expecting it'll be a few years yet.
Bethesda has already said "it'll be some time before we have more to reveal," which isn't particularly surprising given that the company is also working on both Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6 currently. We wouldn't expect the game to release until at least 2022.
With Bethesda's parent company, Zenimax, now owned by Microsoft, we expect to see the new Indiana Jones game coming to PC and Xbox Series X/S – however, platforms have not yet been confirmed.
New Indiana Jones game trailers
Bethesda shared a teaser trailer on Twitter in January 2021 that officially announced the new Indiana Jones, though it had more Easter Eggs than game details. The trailer pans across a desk covered with books, a camera and papers, before landing on the iconic fedora and whip of Dr Henry 'Indiana' Jones, Jr. It's not much to go on, but it's enough to get us excited (and there does seem to be some clues littered in it). Check it out for yourself:
pic.twitter.com/XSaIwjgiOFJanuary 12, 2021
New Indiana Jones game news and rumors
E3 2021
E3 2021 is going ahead as an all-digital event for the first time and it appears that Bethesda will be in attendance, as will Microsoft. Taking place between June 12 and June 15, this E3 will be a mix of streamed press conferences and a four-day live broadcast with interviews and commentary.
Now that Bethesda has been acquired by Microsoft, it’s unclear how their press conferences will work and there are no official details just yet, though VentureBeat's Jeff Grubb has said on Twitter that the press conferences will be “the same stream and Xbox will lead directly into Bethesda, but there will be a delineation.”
It'll be the same stream and Xbox will lead directly into Bethesda, but there will be a delineation.April 6, 2021
Regardless of how the event is organised, we’re hoping we might see the new Indiana Jones game make an appearance. The game’s announcement in January 2021 came as something of a surprise and we only really have a teaser trailer so far, so a more solid update would no doubt be welcomed by fans. Hopefully, Bethesda reveals some more solid information on its plans for E3 2021 soon.
PS5 will miss out some Bethesda games but is Indiana Jones one of them?
In March 2021, Microsoft completed its acquisition of Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax media and in a blog post on Xbox Wire, head of Xbox Phil Spencer didn’t completely rule out that Bethesda’s games won’t release on Sony’s PS5 in the future, but he did stress that “gamers should know that Xbox consoles, PC, and Game Pass will be the best place to experience new Bethesda games, including some new titles in the future that will be exclusive to Xbox and PC players.”
During the “Bethesda Joins Xbox” roundtable on March 11, Spencer addressed this further, saying “If you’re an Xbox customer, the thing I want you to know is that this is about delivering great exclusive games for you that ship on platforms where Game Pass exists,” Spencer explained. “That’s our goal, that’s why we’re doing this, that’s the root of this partnership that we’re building.”
It’s worth noting that Spencer also said, “Obviously I can’t sit here and say every Bethesda game is exclusive, because we know that’s not true,” due to contractual obligations that will have to be seen through.
We don’t know whether or not there are any contractual obligations around the Indiana Jones game but based on Spencer’s words it seems like there’s a good chance the new Indiana Jones game will, at the very least, be a Game Pass title, if not an outright Xbox exclusive. Spencer didn’t explicitly name the game so we can’t be certain just yet.
According to Microsoft and Bethesda, we’ll find out more about future games during a special showcase event planned for this “Summer”, so likely sometime in June. We’re hoping that an update on the Indiana Jones game will come then.
It’ll be a completely original story
It looks like we won’t be able to glean any story details about the new Indiana Jones game from existing media as Bethesda has confirmed that the game is to be an entirely “original story” in an announcement tweet. That hasn’t stopped us trying to pick apart the brief announcement trailer, though, as you can see below.
Announcement trailer hints
The announcement teaser trailer for the new Indiana Jones game was pretty brief, but there may have been some hidden clues in it which eagle-eyed fans have spotted may point to the game's setting.
It looks like the game could be set (at least partly) in 1937, and see Indy adventuring to Rome given the trailer shows a map of Vatican City as well as a note from Indy that partly says "I will be arriving in Rome."
I downloaded the trailer in HD and have been looking for clues.It looks like the @machinegames Indiana Jones project is set in Vatican City in October 1937, at least for some part of it. You can see the Sistine Chapel on the map. pic.twitter.com/yCYnsXWRNjJanuary 12, 2021
Xbox exclusive?
With Microsoft buying out Bethesda's parent company Zenimax Media in 2020, it'll be interesting to see if the new Indiana Jones game is an Xbox exclusive – or if it features any Xbox-exclusive content. This is still speculation at this point as we wait to see what Microsoft's stance will be on Xbox exclusivity with new Bethesda titles.
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