Bethesda Announce New Indy Game

Ok, let’s get this out of the way: Don’t you just hate Indy games? For nearly three decades (I’m getting old) we’ve had the best Indiana Jones games… and Uncharted too. All the previous attempts at official releases within the series have been met with the same vigor and excitement as a wet fart in a broken-down elevator in the third hour of a several hour sit-in. The last big attempts came from LEGO games, a Facebook game by Zynga, and a PS2 game that was created by Behaviour Interactive.

Announced yesterday morning with a small teaser trailer, Bethesda Softworks and MachineGames are now working on an entirely new game under the LucasFilm Games banner that was announced the day earlier. The trailer is nothing more than a sweeping pan over a desk filled with clues leading up to the iconic hat and whip of Harrison Ford’s monumental character. One of the Easter eggs within the trailer was a typewriter with the branding of MachineGames. For those of you born after 2000, that’s a computer without a screen.

MachineGames are known for their most recent works of the Wolfenstein series, the second reboot of the fun Nazi kill’em up. However, this has fueled speculation as to what the game will be. Since the announcement we were given very confirmed few details. There is currently no word on the genre, possible perspective, setting, or even if Ford will be used for the character’s likeness or voice. The studio is known for their first-person shoot ’em ups in the previously mentioned Wolfenstein series with one foray into the Quake series with the Dimension of the Past expansion. Only time will tell if the studio will continue this.

We did get a tweet following the trailer giving very few details, such as the studios and producer involved in the project. The game will be a whole new story within the franchise, much like the 007 release coming from IO Interactive, and will see the game executive produced by Bethesda’s own director, Todd Howard.

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

What does seem apparent in the trailer is the ticket, passport and map in the teaser, which seem to indicate a setting. It is not confirmed if it will be the entire game, but Indy seems to be heading to Rome in the late 1930s, and in particular Vatican City. I always knew Indy didn’t like Pope Benedict the XVI. The announcement and the teaser provide little else, stating there will be more to come at a later date.

With Bethesda’s still pending acquisition by Microsoft, there is also speculation as to how the game will release. Will it release as an exclusive, timed-exclusive, or plain and normal release? We simply don’t know. The acquisition announcement came late last year with the publisher/developer’s parent company, ZeniMax Media, being bought for 7.5 Billion US dollars. Once again, only time will tell on this one.