Bethesda VP Breaks Their Silence On Indiana Jones 'Tease'

With the announcement of Bethesda's upcoming Indiana Jones game via a short teaser video, fans have been waiting for more information on the game. In the meantime, some have also been looking back for clues that may have predicted the game's announcement. Some fans believe there may have been evidence of the game in Geoff Keighley's Nov. 2020 interview with Bethesda executive producer Todd Howard on Zoom, where eagle-eyed viewers noticed some Indiana Jones memorabilia behind Howard.

An image of Howard in the interview reveals two particular pieces of memorabilia, including both the Ark of the Covenant and the idol from the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark. When Twitter user @Thegreatgreen12 claimed that viewers will have to be vigilant in watching the background in future Zoom interviews, Bethesda's Senior VP of Marketing, Pete Hines, clarified that this would be unnecessary. According to Hines, the memorabilia was only there because Howard is "a lifelong fan of Indiana Jones." Hines added, "He owns a lot of cool Indiana Jones stuff. He's not displaying it for anyone's benefit or because of this [announcement]."

While it's been clarified that the Raiders of the Lost Ark items weren't necessarily teasers themselves for this forthcoming announcement, they would seem to give gamers a bit of a retroactive explanation behind the new Indiana Jones game. As Howard is a leading voice at Bethesda, his affinity for Indiana Jones would certainly seem to be a contributing factor toward the decision to produce the upcoming Indiana Jones title from MachineGames.

The Indiana Jones game announcement seemingly came from out of left field, as besides small details like Howard's Indiana Jones merchandise, there were no major indicators the successful film franchise would make a return to the gaming industry. The last major Indiana Jones game to come out was LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues, released in November 2009. Before that, the last Indiana Jones film released was 2008's controversial Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, infamous for both resilient refrigerators and aliens.

The teaser trailer for the new game isn't entirely revealing. However, it does give viewers that classic Indiana Jones vibe as the camera pans over a desk containing numerous maps, reading materials, a compass, a whip, and Indy's hat. The game's release date and specified consoles have not been announced yet, though hopefully, gamers will receive news of that in the near future. In the meantime, excitement builds for the return of the iconic treasure seeker.