Everything we know about Bethesda’s Indiana Jones game

The man in the hat is coming back.

While the treasure-hunting adventurer was featured in some fantastic games in the 1990s and early 2000s, recently Indy hasn’t been seen in much other than LEGO games

Thankfully, that’s about to change. The upcoming game is part of partnership between Lucasfilm Games and Bethesda. The new Indiana Jones game will feature a "wholly original, standalone tale set at the height of the career of the famed adventurer," according to Lucasfilm Games, and we can’t wait to see what’s in store.

The project was announced on January 12, 2021, via Twitter and has only been discussed a few times since. As of June 2021, this is everything we know about this new Indiana Jones game.

When is the Indiana Jones game release date?

This Indiana Jones game was only announced in early 2021 by Bethesda, so we don't have a release date or window for it. Bethesda made it clear in its messaging that it will be a while before the developer talks about the game again, so it appears to be a ways off. The next Indiana Jones movie is currently slated for July 2022, so the game may release around then, but that’s just speculation.

Is there an Indiana Jones game trailer?

Yes, there is! A brief teaser trailer was released when Bethesda and Lucasfilm Games announced this partnership. It doesn't show much, as we just see Indiana Jones' desk strewn with books, maps, notes, journals, and other objects. He picks up his hat at the end of it, and we see Indy's whip lying on the table.

It's very vague and doesn't reveal anything about the new story or gameplay but should excite Indiana Jones fans nonetheless. Check it out below:

Who is developing the Indiana Jones game?

MachineGames, a subsidiary of Bethesda, is developing the upcoming title. MachineGames is known thus far for its work on all four modern Wolfenstein games: The New Order, The New Colossus, Cyberpilot, and Youngblood. This will be the studio's first foray into a new franchise, though there is some overlap with a setting around World War 2.

The Indiana Jones game is clearly a high priority of Bethesda, as Bethesda Game Studios' Executive Producer Todd Howard is overseeing this project. Specifically, a tweet from Bethesda describes the game as "in development from our studio, @MachineGames, and will be executive produced by Todd Howard, in collaboration with @LucasfilmGames." Lucasfilm Games is the new brand for all Lucasfilm-related video game products, including Star Wars.

While Indiana Jones shouldn't directly conflict with the releases of Starfield or The Elder Scrolls 6 as they have different development teams, it's promising that one of Bethesda's key creatives is working on this new Indiana Jones project. Bethesda's SVP of Global Marketing Pete Hines even stressed in a blog post that "Todd is a lifelong Indy fan, and has been trying for over a decade to make this game."

Howard elaborated on his involvement and passion for the project in a June 2021 interview with The Telegraph.

"The work MachineGames have done, they're just phenomenal developers and storytellers," Howard said. "When I started talking to them about it, it was a good fit. And we got the opportunity to talk to Lucas and Disney about it, and they were super excited."

Howard even revealed that he first pitched the game to George Lucas back in 2009 before Lucasfilm was sold to Dinsey. Nothing came of that idea until now, when Lucasfilm decided to renew its interest in the video game industry.

Will the Indiana Jones game be an Xbox exclusive?

This is another unknown variable for Bethesda's Indiana Jones game, though it’s looking more and more likely that it will be. While it was announced before the completion of the acquisition, Microsoft now fully owns ZeniMax Media, which owns Bethesda and MachineGames.

While games like The Elder Scrolls Online are staying multiplatform, new titles like Redfall and Starfield have been confirmed to be Xbox exclusives. Microsoft seems intent on making Bethesda games exclusive to platforms where Xbox Game Pass is available, and right now, that means it’s just PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and mobile phones via the cloud.

Still, thanks to some PS5 exclusives from Bethesda coming this year and Indiana Jones being a super popular IP, there's a chance that this will be multiplatform post-acquisition, though that is unlikely. We won’t know for sure if it’s exclusive until Microsoft or Bethesda decide to unveil it again fully.

While Sony has Spider-Man games as console exclusives, Xbox could soon counter them with an exclusive Indiana Jones game.

When will we learn more about the Indiana Jones game?

The official announcement of this Indiana Jones game was light on information, so fans are probably wondering when they'll learn more. Unfortunately, it seems like we'll have to wait a while. "It'll be some time before we have more to reveal, but we’re very excited to share today’s news," a tweet from Bethesda reads.

It was only briefly mentioned during Microsoft and Bethesda’s roundtable in March 2021 and skipped their E3 press conference in June 2021 as well. While this game is super exciting, it’s quite likely that we might not see this game in action again this year.

Games like Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 have shown that Bethesda has no problem waiting quite a while to talk about revealed games. Howard is eager to talk about it again at the very least.

“I really like Indiana Jones but never thought I’d have the opportunity to make a game,” Howard told The Telegraph. “And you’ll hear about more of that in the future. But the team at MachineGames are the best team in the world to pull this game off, and they’re doing a phenomenal job.”