Yesterday's Indiana Jones game announcement was coincidentally teased by Bethesda Games Studios Chief Software Engineer Todd Howard during an Xbox buyout video several months ago, as he's apparently a superfan of the films. The official news came as a surprise to many, especially those who unwittingly missed the signs of the game and franchise obviously being on the famed developer's mind (and shelves)right before their eyes. MachineGames, the Swedish studio responsible for Wolfenstein's acclaimed reboot series, is helming development on the project, while Todd Howard has been tapped as executive producer.
As of writing, specifics about the Indiana Jones game are scarce at best. Bethesda and MachineGames have so far only shown a brief teaser trailer. Speaking on Disney's and Lucasfilm Games' role in the project's development, a representative noted the newly revealed Indiana Jones title will serve as a "wholly original, standalone tale." How long this has all been in the works is a mystery for now, but it appears the earliest hints of such a reveal initially surfaced back in September 2020.
Twitter user Malek stumbled across an interesting detail, which suggested to many that Todd Howard secretly hinted at the Indiana Jones reveal many months ago. After news had broken that Microsoft acquired Bethesda's parent company, ZeniMax Media, Xbox's Larry Hyrb (aka Major Nelson), hosted a discussion with Howard, Xbox Head Phil Spencer, and Bethesda Softworks' PR and Marketing VP, Pete Hines. Throughout the discussion, viewers can spot a few intriguing artifacts sitting on the shelf behind Howard, two of which are related to Indiana Jones. While it appears to be a very clever tease in retrospect, Bethesda PR guru Pete Hines insists that those assumptions don't hold water and are instead coincidental, concluding, "He's just a huge fan of Indiana Jones."
Whether coincidence or calculated genius, it's doubtless that Bethesda's work Indiana Jones license has been in the works for some time now. However, the wait to learn more concrete details is still probably going to be a lengthy one. Now that Bethesda and its subsidiaries are soon-to-be Xbox-owned entities, questions have emerged about whether this Indiana Jones title will be exclusive to Xbox consoles. That much will likely remain under wraps for quite some time, since the acquisition isn't finalized and Microsoft doesn't seem ready to talks specifics on the publishers' multiplatform future just yet.
As more recent news has shown, Disney is interested in exploring its video game output with other beloved properties, too. Just this morning, the company announced a new partnership with Ubisoft. The deal will see the Ubisoft-owned Massive Entertainment produce an open-world Star Wars game, helmed by The Division 2 director Julian Gerighty. Similar to this Indiana Jones project, information about Massive's new Star Wars game is minimal, but Ubisoft confirmed the studio's Snowdrop Engine is set to power the open-world title.
Source: Malek, Major Nelson, Pete Hines