Xbox Troubles: What is the future of Indiana Jones?

Granted, several showcases like Summer Games Fest are mere weeks away, but as for the next 5–6 months, the rest of 2024 looks pretty weak in terms of big, highly anticipated releases. One of the big titles on the horizon presumably is Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Surely this will be a big Xbox console exclusive and the start of a big franchise starring everyone’s favorite artifact thief and Nazi puncher, right?

Ehhhhh not so fast. Despite putting on a brave face for the past several years, for literally the past decade, Microsoft has been largely big on promises and short on delivery when it comes to a steady stream of quality exclusive titles for their console. And it’s affected sales of both the console and seemingly limited the potential growth of Microsoft’s Gamepass, which is a pretty core tenet of what they believe to be if not the general future of gaming, their future of gaming at least. And eventually, even with a company as massive as Microsoft, that comes to a head.

And come to a head it has. Microsoft not only six months ago laid off over 1,900 employees as a result of the Activision/Blizzard merger, but just earlier this week, they closed down several game studios, including Tango Gameworks, which made the extremely well-received Hi-Fi Rush, and more layoffs and possible closures seem to be not only possible but imminent.

These layoffs and closures are awful, and unfortunately, the people most responsible aren’t going to be made to answer for it, and far more important than some videogames. But it does beg the question, what does the future of Microsoft games even look like, and what does that mean for the one big Disney game in development in their house, Indiana Jones and The Great Circle?

Indiana Jones is a well-known IP and a big-budget game and I can’t imagine it being canceled. But Indiana Jones as an overall franchise isn’t what it used to be, its last hit theatrical release was Last Crusade in 1989. Its last major videogame was Lego Indiana Jones 2 in 2009 and it’s arguable the last really good Indiana Jones game was Indiana Jones and The Emperor’s Tomb in 2003.

Granted, in a sense, this arguably makes fans hungry for a new Indiana Jones experience that truly captures the franchise in a way that’s been lacking for a long time now. Is Indiana Jones and the Great Circle that experience? Is it fair to lay those kind of expectations on it?

Fair or not, every future title under Microsoft is going to be under intense scrutiny. Is this game going to stay exclusive? Is it even going to be on Gamepass since those numbers have supposedly flatlined and Microsoft might think they’ll make more money keeping a big game off Gamepass? If this next big swing from this game studio doesn’t meet its enormous expectations, is Microsoft going to give the studio another chance or will it just be another quick casualty? These are certainly questions surrounding Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, but can also virtually be applied to almost any game they are working on now that isn’t Call of Duty.

Indiana Jones and The Great Circle is clearly not meant to be a one-off game, it’s a huge title and I’m sure Microsoft would like a long-running franchise off of it. But if it doesn’t hit just right, will they try again or just shutter not only the franchise but possibly developer Machine Studios as well? It’s hard to have faith in anything Microsoft is doing at this point and it’s going to take a lot of work for me and any others to think otherwise….

That’s it for today, I will likely have another entry up early next week so see ya real soon!