MachineGames' upcoming Indiana Jones game was originally set for a multiplatform release, until Xbox's ZeniMax acquisition changed plans.
During today's trial between Xbox/Activision and the Federal Trade Commission, Bethesda's Pete Hines revealed that Disney had an agreement with ZeniMax for a multiplatform AAA Indiana Jones game. After the Bethesda acquisition, the agreement with Disney was amended to transition the Indiana Jones game to an Xbox and PC exclusive. Hines said the game is currently set to hit Game Pass on day one.
Several emails and conversations shown during the trial added additional color to the decision to make Indiana Jones a platform exclusive.
“While it is not in our messaging, I think it is important to highlight that Lucasfilm brought up the issue of platforms because we have a signed agreement with them to develop the game for multiple consoles," read an email between Hines, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer, Xbox Studios head Matt Booty, and several other executives.
"The upside here is a game coming from Bethesda that everyone will be excited about. This is the most important thing. The downside for Xbox…is that a large percentage of output from Bethesda won’t directly benefit the Xbox community in any way," Spencer wrote in January 2021.
Hines said that he was told by Spencer in a subsequent call that Bethesda should continue to look at title exclusivity on a case-by-case basis. Asked why Indiana Jones was ultimately amenda, Pete Hines attributed it to "reducing risk and trying to get a degree of clarity."
"You’re dealing with a licensor who is giving a ton of feedback on what you’re making, is going to add a ton of time to your scheduling, these agreements, you don’t get to take as long as you want, you have a window of time in which you’re going to release a game, you immediately have a clock that’s ticking on you," Hines said.
In short, while Bethesda has a degree of control over what happens with Starfield, it has much less control over Indiana Jones, which is owned by Lucasfilm.
"Truthfully, we also kind of liked the idea of embracing, bringing it to Game Pass and how many players we could get there," Hine said.
Indy's new adventure on Xbox
First announced in 2021, the Indiana Jones game is coming from MachineGames, developer of Wolfenstein: The New Order and Wolfenstein: The New Colossus. MachineGames is a studio under the Bethesda/ZeniMax umbrella, meaning it was included in Xbox's acquisition of the company. The developers haven't officially announced platforms for the game, meaning Hines' comments today are the best indication so far of where players will be able to access Indiana Jones.
The Indiana Jones game has been absent from Xbox's showcases since its announcement over two years ago. Bethesda's Todd Howard will serve as executive producer on the project, and Howard briefly mentioned the game in an interview last year, saying it would be a "mash-up" of different genres.
This isn't the first we've heard of a ZeniMax studio game turning into an Xbox exclusive after the acquisition. After Redfall's release, Arkane's Harvey Smith said the studio canceled the PlayStation 5 version of the co-op vampire shooter.
We're covering all of the news from this week's Microsoft FTC trial, which could have huge implications for the proposed $68.7 billion acquisition. On day one so far, we've learned that PlayStation boss Jim Ryan wasn't worried about Call of Duty becoming Xbox exclusive, and that Xbox admitted that it lost the console wars. Plus, Xbox's Matt Booty said a decision hasn't been made on a PlayStation version of The Outer Worlds 2. To follow all of the proceedings, check out our article on how to watch the trial and our coverage so far.
Additional reporting by Rebekah Valentine.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over seven years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.