To put it plainly, recent efforts by LucasFilm to develop the Indiana Jones property have not been particularly successful. However, a fresh report indicates that progress on the Indiana Jones game under development is showing encouraging signs, and as a result, the winds of change may be on the horizon.
Todd Howard, the executive producer on the unnamed Indiana Jones game at Bethesda, said in a GQ interview that he is “midway through executive producing” the title:
They’ve got the whole Nazi killing thing down, and they’re doing a really great job.
Howard, a self-described devotee of the adventure genre, claims that Raiders of the Lost Ark from 1981 is his favorite movie. It’s on the American game developer Bethesda Softworks‘ “bucket list” to create the future RPG game in partnership with MachineGames and Lucasfilm Games, which suggests that fans of the series may finally get a game deserving of Indy’s enduring legacy.
In 2021, Bethesda shared a brief teaser for the game that was jam-packed with Easter eggs, including references to Indy’s famous bullwhip, his trademark headgear, and his diary. Since then, information on the project has been scant, but we now know that the game will contain a mix of first- and third-person gameplay and that it will be an Xbox exclusive (despite being previously intended to release on many platforms).
In 2003, a PlayStation 2 and Xbox version of Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb were both made available. Six years later, LucasArts (now known as Lucasfilm Games) created Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. However, the company ultimately opted to distribute the game for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Wii.
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Both of these games received mixed reviews, with both critics and players praising the varied gameplay while criticizing the motion controls and graphics.
The final Indiana Jones movie, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, was released by Disney earlier this year to tepid reviews from reviewers and audiences. Dial of Destiny, one of the most costly movies ever produced, was a box office disaster that cost Disney over $100 million.
Todd Howard must be crossing his fingers in anticipation that the future video game won’t meet a similar demise when it debuts. As of this writing, no release date has been specified.