New Indiana Jones game: everything we know so far

Lucasfilm Games has officially confirmed a new Indiana Jones game. The adrenaline-fuelled archaeologist's next outing is in the works at Wolfenstein developer MachineGames, with Bethesda Game Studios head Todd Howard set to be the project's executive producer.

As it stands, we're still waiting on some major details for the new Indiana Jones game, including the information on the storyline, release date, and confirmation of what it will actually be called. There is even a debate about what platform the new Indiana Jones game will be released on now that Microsoft has acquired Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax Media. However, thanks to StarWars.com (opens in new tab), Lucasfilm's official news outlet, we do know that this will be an "original, standalone tale set at the height of the career of the famed adventurer". 

Want to know more about Indy's next video game outing? Then read on for everything we know about the new Indiana Jones game.

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, Xbox and PC platforms look likely

New Indiana Jones game release date and platforms

There's yet to be a word on when we'll get our hands on the new Indiana Jones game, but we're expecting it will be for a few years.

In a tweet announcing (opens in new tab) the game back in January 2021, Bethesda said, "it'll be some time before we have more to reveal", which isn't surprising given that the company is also working on  Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6 currently. However, since MachineGames and not Bethesda Game Studios are handling this, we won't necessarily need to wait until Starfield is finished.

At this point, we expect the game to release in 2023 as we near the end of 2022. Although it would be nice to get some news before the new year. It's worth noting that the June 2022 Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase focused on games launching "in the next twelve months." Because Indiana Jones didn't show, it seems very unlikely we'll see it until, at the earliest, the second half of 2023.

With Bethesda's parent company, Zenimax, now owned by Microsoft, we expect to see the new Indiana Jones game coming to PC, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S – however, platforms have not yet been confirmed.

New Indiana Jones game story and setting

Right now, we need to learn more about the new Indiana Jones game setting. However, it looks like we won’t be able to glean any story details from existing media, as Bethesda has confirmed that the game is an entirely “original story” in the announcement tweet (opens in new tab). 

While that announcement teaser trailer was pretty brief,  there may have been some hidden clues that eagle-eyed fans spotted may point to the game's setting. 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 writing that partly says, "I will be arriving in Rome".

Right now, though, this all remains entirely speculative, and it's worth remembering that plans can (and often do) change during development. Once we hear more from Microsoft or MachineGames, we'll keep this updated.

New Indiana Jones game trailer

Teaser trailer
Bethesda shared (opens in new tab) 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, but it's enough to get us excited (and there seems to be some clues about). 

Check it out for yourself:

New Indiana Jones game news and rumors

New rumors point to Xbox exclusivity
There are more rumors that Bethesda’s upcoming Indiana Jones game could be an Xbox exclusive. This comes from XboxEra podcast co-host Nick Baker who recently posted a tweet suggesting that the game will be an Xbox exclusive. 

This hasn’t, of course, been confirmed through any official channels tied with the game, so it’s not certain what platforms the Indiana Jones game will launch on, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it was an Xbox exclusive. Following Bethesda’s acquisition by Microsoft, it’s been confirmed that Bethesda’s upcoming game Starfield will be an Xbox exclusive. There are reports that Elder Scrolls 6 will go the same way. 

This Indiana Jones game looks to be in its early stages and is almost certainly a while off. If there aren't any previous contractual obligations bringing the game to PlayStation, we wouldn't be surprised if it was among the "new titles in the future that will be exclusive to Xbox and PC players” that Phil Spencer has previously mentioned".

In the “very, very, very early stages of development”
It’ll be a while before we get our hands on MachineGames’ Indiana Jones game as senior vice president of global marketing and communications, Pete Hines, said in mid-2021 that the game was still in the “very, very, very early stages of development”. 

In an interview as part of GameSpot’s Play For All (opens in new tab) event in June 2021, Hines said,  “They're working on the Indiana Jones games, which we just talked about earlier this year. Obviously, we literally just announced that deal, so you can make your own guesses about how far along that is.” 

PS5 will miss out on 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. Still, 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".

Spencer addressed this further during the “Bethesda Joins Xbox” roundtable in March 2021Bethesda Joins Xbox (opens in new tab)” roundtable in March 2021, Spencer addressed this further. “If you’re an Xbox customer, I want you to know 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".

“Obviously I can’t sit here and say every Bethesda game is exclusive, because we know that’s not true,” Spencer continued, likely in part referencing 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. 

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