This isn’t Star Wars news, but it’s exciting news from Lucasfilm that was announced recently: Bethesda is developing a new Indiana Jones video game in partnership with the newly rebranded Lucasfilm Games!
According to the official release, “the game will tell a wholly original, standalone tale set at the height of the career of the famed adventurer.” A brief teaser trailer was released as part of the announcement:
The game is being developed by MachineGames and will be produced by Bethesda’s Todd Howard. The studios have done a number of really well-received and award-winning games, and many in the gaming industry seem to think that they are a perfect choice to tackle an Indiana Jones tale. I enjoy video games but am not an avid player, so I cannot judge there.
What I can speculate about more is what this game might be about. Though the release was very sparse on details (and it sounds like we won’t be hearing details for a while), it nonetheless hinted that the teaser may contain some clues. And indeed it does! There are some obvious easter eggs paying tribute to Lucasfilm, MachineGames, and Bethesda, but there’s also a few other easter eggs that I think can give us a hint as to potential storylines. If you look carefully, you will see a ticket on Indy’s desk for Rome, and it’s marked as being from 1937. That would set it chronologically in-between Raiders of the Lost Arc (set in 1936) and The Last Crusade (set in 1938), as of course Temple of Doom is set prior to those films in-universe (set in 1935). And since the release says that this will be set during Indy’s height, this timing also makes sense.
So it probably will take place in 1937, and it looks like it might take us to Rome. Additionally, we see two other items of note (at least that I caught). The first is a half-written letter still in a typewriter, and though it’s very difficult to make anything out, it looks like the letter begins as addressed to “Father _____” – which, again, would make sense for being in Rome. Perhaps Indy has been in communication with someone from the Vatican. Secondly, there’s a folder marked “top secret” on Indy’s desk. So could this be some sort of ‘official’ business, perhaps even in coordination with the United States government? Who knows! But I think we can at least say that it’ll take us to Rome in 1937, from the looks of it.
And I’m really excited to be getting an Indiana Jones game, something that feels long overdue! And as I said when the Lucasfilm Games brand was announced, hopefully this means tons more games are coming soon!
Star Wars Thoughts 