Bethesda shared the first official look at an upcoming Indiana Jones game via their Twitter page on Tuesday, January 11. It's been quite sometime since fans had the opportunity to play as the legendary archeologist, as 2009's Lego Indiana Jones 2 was the last game to feature the iconic character. Indiana Jones' debut trailer didn't have much to show, outside of the fact it's being developed by MachineGames, famous for the Wolfenstein reboot, in collaboration with the newly-minted Lucasfilm games. For as exciting as the idea of a new Indiana Jones game is, considering the studios developing the title, it's safe to wonder - will Indiana Jones be an Xbox exclusive?
Back in September, Microsoft made major waves by purchasing ZeniMax Media and Bethesda Softworks for $7.5 billion. Bethesda is known for hit series such as Fallout, Elder Scrolls, and Doom, so Microsoft's acquisition of the developer was a historic purchase. Microsoft has been losing the battle of console exclusive games with Sony for quite sometime, so the purchase of Bethesda was a major move in that regard. Many non-Microsoft gamers saw this purchase as alarming as they feared many of their favorite franchises could now become Xbox and PC exclusives, but the future exclusivity of Bethesda games have yet to be fully revealed.
This unnamed Indiana Jones game is the one of the first major titles announced by Bethesda since it was acquired by Microsoft. Considering the game is being developed by MachineGames, which was purchased by Microsoft under the umbrella of ZeniMax Media, it's safe to expect this upcoming Indiana Jones game could be an Xbox and PC exclusive of some kind. However, the game's official release console wasn't revealed in the teaser video, leaving hope it's being developed for multiple consoles.
There's Hope Indiana Jones May Not Be An Xbox Exclusive
One of the more interesting aspects of Microsoft's purchase of Bethesda is that the developer had already been working on two timed-exclusive titles for PlayStation, Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo. These games were likely in development well before Microsoft's acquisition, but it does sparks some curiosity over the exclusivity of future Bethesda titles. While Microsoft has been wildly outpaced by Sony in terms of console exclusives, it doesn't seem as though Microsoft is all that concerned with console exclusives period. Microsoft has previously stated they had no interest in releasing Xbox exclusives on other consoles like the Switch, according to the Verge, but have since changed their stance as Xbox exclusives, like the Ori series, have found their way onto the Nintendo console.
In addition, Xbox Game Pass has transcended traditional console gaming and Xbox seems to be aiming to get games in the hands of as many gamers possible, wherever they might be. Microsoft's purchase of Bethesda led many to believe its aim was to turn dozens of hit franchises into Xbox exclusives, but Microsoft's actual goal may have simply been adding an extensive library of games to Xbox Game Pass.
In terms of the upcoming Indiana Jones game, Bethesda's attachment implies it could be an Xbox exclusive, but the presence of Lucasfilm Games could mean otherwise. Lucasfilm Games is owned by Disney and Disney doesn't seem like it would have much interest in a console exclusive. Disney likely wants to make as much money off a game as possible, especially one involving an iconic character like Indiana Jones, so that means releasing it on as many consoles as possible. It's likely this untitled Indiana Jones game will be a timed-exclusive for Xbox and PC before it eventually makes its way to other consoles.
While it seems possible that this new Indiana Jones game will be an Xbox and PC exclusive to some degree, there's still too little known about the title to be entirely sure. A follow-up tweet to the initial reveal trailer states that it'll be some time until more about the game is revealed, so it seems fans eager to find out more may be stuck playing the waiting game for the time being.