It's the 15th anniversary of MachineGames, the Swedish developer that most recently gave us the hit action adventure Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. The studio announced a free New Game+ update for its big Indy game yesterday to celebrate its birthday, but today it hinted at something more interesting for the future.
"Thank you for 15 incredible years," the studio wrote on X—not the most exuberant celebration message of all, no, but it's the image underneath that caught people's attention.
Clockwise from the upper left, that is:
- Wolfenstein: The New Order
- Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
- Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus
- Wolfenstein: Youngblood
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
- and... ?
That's a pretty pronounced open square, and it immediately sparked speculation in the replies that a new game is incoming, and hope among most that it's a new Wolfenstein. I would certainly join that chorus. In MachineGames' hands, BJ Blazkowicz was a revelation: For as great as Wolfenstein's balls-out Nazi slaughter is (and it is great), it's the cast that makes the games truly special. I waxed poetic about BJ's turn in The New Blood a decade ago, and The New Colossus took the human side of the game even further. Wolfenstein: Youngblood was a blast but also a spinoff game—the tale of Terror Billy's revolution is yet to properly conclude. (Although The New Colossus did have a very memorable ending.)
We should also recall that it was just a month ago that MachineGames head Jerk Gustafsson said the studio has always seen Wolfenstein as a trilogy, and that "we're not done with Wolfenstein yet. We have a story to tell."
It's possible that a new Indiana Jones game is in the offing: Despite the obvious enthusiasm for BJ and the gang on social media, I don't think there's any denying that Indy is the more bankable hero, and if there's one thing we've learned over the last few years of the videogame industry, that's what matters. Still, I'm going to hold out hope: Nazis get punched either way, but I have to say that I really prefer BJ's way of getting the job done.
