Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: Everything to know about Bethesda's upcoming game

This past week, Bethesda lifted the curtain on its upcoming Indiana Jones game. Officially titled Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the new first-person action-adventure game is in development by MachineGames, the Swedish-based studio best known for the Wolfenstein video games.

The showcase during Xbox's Developer-Direct featured over 13 minutes of developer insights, including our first look at actual gameplay. And while I was skeptical about what to expect from an Indiana Jones game, I came away from the reveal trailer impressed with what I saw so far.

Before we get into the details about everything we know so far, check out the official gameplay reveal below.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle platforms and release window

Unfortunately, we don't have a firm release date for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle yet. However, Bethesda has confirmed that it will launch later this year. If I had to guess, I would say this fall, or sometime around the holiday season.

It will only be available on Xbox Series X|S and PC. As Bethesda is now owned by Microsoft, it makes Indiana Jones and the Great Circle a first-party Xbox title. And like all other first-party Xbox games, it will be available day one on Game Pass.

What is Indiana Jones and the Great Circle about?

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is set between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. Players will step into the shoes of the legendary archaeologist and embark on an adventure "that will take you all over the world, uncovering clues and solving an ancient mystery."

The synopsis teases:

"Become the adventurer in a race against sinister forces. Your journeys will take you 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."

The goal of the game, according to MachineGames’ co-founder and game director Jerk Gustafsson, is to feel like it's a long-lost movie. And based on the trailer, it seems MachineGames has nailed the tone perfectly.

What is the gameplay like?

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is played through a first-person view. This is so you truly feel like you're playing as Indiana Jones, experiencing the world through his eyes. During cinematic cutscenes and environmental traversal moments, the camera will pull back into a third-person perspective.

Gameplay is a mix of story, puzzle-solving, open-world exploration and discovery, and stealth. As an action-adventure, you'll be able to choose how to approach each situation. You can opt to move around stealthy and sneak up on enemies, eavesdropping on conversations, use your whip to create distractions or climb around, or simply engage in fisticuffs.

Who is voicing Indiana Jones?

My first thought watching the trailer was "Wow, this really looks and sounds like Harrison Ford." But the game uses Ford's likeness for the character, the voice is performed by someone else — Troy Baker.

Baker is a prominent actor in the video games industry. he's perhaps best known ast the voice of Joel Miller in The Last of Us. But he has also voiced Sam Drake in Uncharted, Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite and Higgs Monaghan in Death Stranding.