What is the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle release date? Announced back in January 2021, not much was known about the upcoming Indiana Jones game other than Machine Games, the developers of the modern Wolfenstein games, is handling it. Given the developer’s affinity for blasting up Nazis, this pairing seemed like a natural fit for cinema’s greatest archaeologist.
We finally got a glimpse of the action-adventure game at Xbox Developer Direct 2024, showing off one of the most anticipated upcoming games set to launch later this year. There’s quite a lot to unpack in the presentation, including information about the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle release date, gameplay, and what to expect from the story.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle release date estimate
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will launch on PC and Xbox Series X|S in 2024. We expect Indiana Jones and the Great Circle to launch closer to the end of 2024 in Q4.
There’s a slight chance that the new Indiana Jones game could launch before Q4, though generally the biggest games of the year launch before the holidays. That’s not to say big games don’t launch throughout the year, but for a console exclusive of this level, we expect Indiana Jones and the Great Circle to release around November 2024.
There were rumors that Microsoft might be leaning toward making their console-exclusive titles available on other consoles, but the Xbox Developer Direct 2024 confirmed it’s not heading to PlayStation 5 or Nintendo Switch at launch. Keep in mind that doesn’t necessarily rule out any chance of the game launching on these platforms several months after the initial release date.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle story
Set in 1937 between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, Indiana Jones embarks on an adventure to stop the sinister forces from utilizing the Great Circle to access an ancient power. During this period, Jones has split up with Marion Ravenwood and has thrown himself into his work.
In an interview with Lucas Film, game director Jerk Gustafsson spoke about what the Great Circle is and how it relates to the story. “It turns out there is a very real and mysterious great circle that is not the equator, but one that connects many of history’s greatest historical sites such as Giza, Easter Island, Sukhothai, Nazca, and many more”, said Gustafsson. “Their connection has remained a mystery, and this provides the perfect adventure for our game.”
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle trailers
One of Indy’s villains gets some camera time at the beginning of the gameplay reveal trailer, released on January 18, 2024. With his combed-back hair and teashade glasses, the villain and his goons surround Indiana Jones who finds himself buried in the desert sands of Africa. The villain notes that Jones should’ve built himself a life of meaning instead of attempting to ruin his plans, shortly after he gets smashed in the face by a headbutt from Indiana.
The scene transitions over to Jones in a forgotten temple covered in greenery as he talks about myths and history being different ways to interpret the past. Soon after, we see a woman holding a white statue inside a museum before switching to a large, bald man praying at Egyptian sculptures inside a museum at night. There are more shots of Jones exploring temples before he’s shown being told off by one of his superiors for running away from his problems.
There are several clips of Jones brandishing his whip multiple times, taking out enemies that stand in his way, while he also solves several puzzles that stop him in his tracks. The final scene pans to Jones as he realizes what he’s searching for, saying aloud, “Patron of the fallen angels. Protector of the Circuli magni. The Great Circle” before we get a shot of the game’s logo.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle gameplay
To the surprise of many, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a first-person game that switches to third-person during specific scenes. An example in the reveal trailer shows Indiana Jones inserting a large cog into a machine in first person, the perspective then switches to third person to give us a better view of the machine in action. The same also occurs when using a zip line, showing Jones quickly descending into a new area.
According to the game’s Steam page, Jones will travel the world in The Great Circle. “Travel from the halls of Marshall College to the heart of the Vatican, the pyramids of Egypt, the sunken temples of Sukhothai, and beyond”. The trailer has given us a glimpse at some of the puzzles that we’re going to encounter, including the aforementioned cog machine.
We also see Indiana fight off several enemies using his trusty whip, pulling people off structures, tripping up, and disarming enemies. Once he has an enemy in his sights, Jones can be seen punching people square in the jaw, sometimes repeatedly to knock them out cold. Though he rarely relies on them, Jones is seen using weapons twice in the trailer; once during combat where he fires a pistol at an enemy, and during a set piece where he uses a mounted machine gun to shoot down a plane.
That’s all there is to know about the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle release date. If you’re looking for more top-quality titles coming to Microsoft’s subscription service, check out our Game Pass list. Depending on how deep the combat is, there’s a chance Indy could make his way onto our best FPS games list, we’ll have to see how much fun it is to trip up people with a whip.