Todd Howard is one of the most notable video game developers on the planet, being the face of Bethesda and the subject of numerous internet memes. Howard is also a big Indiana Jones fan, which makes Bethesda's upcoming Indiana Jones game seem like a natural fit for the developer. And while it was just announced a few months ago, it turns out that Howard first pitched the idea over a decade back.
Speaking in an interview with Telegraph, Howard offered up a few small details about the upcoming Indiana Jones game. While he wouldn't spill the beans on any major gameplay information, he did reveal the relatively storied history of getting to this point. Apparently, Howard had originally pitched the game to George Lucas and Disney back in 2009, stating that they were "super excited" about it.
It isn't clear what caused the pitched game to fall through, though Howard did state that he's been trying to get an Indiana Jones game made since then. Howard goes on to state that Machine Games, the developer behind the upcoming Indiana Jones game, is doing a "phenomenal" job on the project, and that it's the best developer to handle such a title. Machine Games is most notable for its work on the recent Wolfenstein games, which have mostly launched to critical acclaim.
Machine Games' experience with Nazi-blasting narratives should translate nicely to an Indiana Jones project, even if Indiana Jones tends to be a bit more family-friendly than what Wolfenstein typically does. There's been next to no information about what the game will entail, as the first Indiana Jones teaser is all fans have really seen, so it's impossible to pin down just what Machine Games is going for with the project.
Bethesda's current roster of games is impressive, but the release windows for some of its upcoming projects are a bit confusing. Elsewhere in the interview, Howard stated that Elder Scrolls 6 is still in its design phase, which means the game is still years off. There's also the question of when the Indiana Jones game will release, and what the future of the Fallout franchise looks like. Now that Microsoft owns Bethesda, the studio might get the resources it needs to accelerate development, but it's difficult to say how it will affect things.
With E3 2021 bearing few updates for Bethesda's big projects, it might be some time before fans learn anything significant. Starfield's release date is over a year away, and that's seemingly the next major title coming from the company. Where Machine Games' Indiana Jones game will fall is a puzzle, but an interesting one.
Indiana Jones is currently in development.
Source: Telegraph