Release window, gameplay, & everything we know
Everything we know about Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
When is Indiana Jones and the Great Circle coming out?
After being announced simply as a new Indiana Jones game back in 2021, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle finally gave us a release window (and the reveal of its full name) during Xbox Developer Direct. There’s no specific date yet, but it’s set to launch in 2024.
What platforms is Indiana Jones and the Great Circle coming to?
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is set to launch for Xbox Series X|S and PC. As an Xbox exclusive, it won’t be coming to PS5 or Nintendo Switch.
Is Indiana Jones and the Great Circle coming to Xbox Game Pass?
Yes! Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a first-party Xbox Studios game. It’s being developed by MachineGames and will be available on Game Pass from day one.
What is the story and setting for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle?
Thanks to Indy’s appearance during Xbox Developer Direct, we now have a lot more details on the game’s setting and story.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is set in 1937, between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. As is usual for an Indy adventure, it’s a globe-trotting affair — Bethesda says we’ll be heading “from the hallowed halls of the Vatican and the arid deserts of Egypt to the lush and sunken temples of Sukhothai and the frigid peaks of the Himalayas.”
Indy’s heading all over the world because that’s what his foes are doing: “sinister forces,” which are searching for “an ancient power connected to the Great Circle.” Bethesda again shares a little more detail here: “When a break-in in the dead of night ends in a confrontation with a mysterious colossal man, you must set out to discover the world-shattering secret behind the theft of a seemingly unimportant artifact.” Excellent stuff.
What type of game is Indiana Jones and the Great Circle?
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a first-person single-player adventure game with “linear, narrative-driven gameplay.”
Exploration, action, and puzzle-solving will all play a part here. Bethesda says we’ll have “open-area maps” to explore, with traps, riddles, and puzzles to watch out for. We saw a little of this in the Xbox Developer Direct footage, with Indy using cogs to open a secret entrance, almost falling into a pit of spikes, crossing a rickety bridge across a snowy chasm, and having spiders crawl up his arm after sticking his hand into a rocky crevice.
Naturally, Indy will be armed with his whip, which can be used either to distract enemies or to defend himself against them if things go downhill. Guns will be an option too, as will unarmed combat, and we also saw Indy pick up a random tool he came across and use it to stealthily take out an enemy. But, as we also saw in that Xbox Developer Direct footage, the whip is also useful for traversal: we can “swing over unsuspecting patrols and scale walls,” suggesting stealth is an option if you don’t want to go in all guns and whips blazing.
Is that Harrison Ford or not?
*Insert Bilbo meme* Well, no… and yes.
MachineGames has clearly prioritsed getting Harrison Ford’s likeness for his iconic character, but while Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’s Indy does sound remarkably like Ford too, he’s actually voiced in the game by veteran voice actor Troy Baker (of The Last of Us fame).
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle achievement list
No sign of the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle achievements yet, and there probably won’t be for a while, but we’ll keep an eye out!
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle trailers
Until Xbox Developer Direct, this would have been a sad little section — when the new Indiana Jones game was announced, we only got a brief teaser on Twitter:
That teaser showcased excavation paraphernalia and the iconic hat and whip, but not the man himself. The Xbox Developer Direct gave us a much more detailed look at the game. We’ve got the extended gameplay reveal, featuring all the added commentary and behind-the-scenes from the devs:
And then the isolated footage of the gameplay itself, showing Indy navigating traps, exploring dark tombs, and… shooting down planes before doing a mid-air jump to another plane. A standard day for this particular archaeologist.
