MachineGames formally teases its next biggest project, the developer of the modern Wolfenstein saga and the highly anticipated Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. To celebrate its fifteenth anniversary company under ZeniMax Media, the Swedish studio released a commemorative poster, which instantly sparked speculation in the industry. Displayed were the cover arts for five of the company’s established titles but there is a sixth, unmarked slot prominently featuring a question mark, clearly and intentionally teasing for an unannounced title.
This move now comes at a time when the Uppsala-based team is nearing the launch of its latest adventure game Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Formed in 2009 by seven former Starbreeze Studios employees, the studio now stands tall for its critical acclaim revival of the Wolfenstein first-person-shooting franchise. Just like the poster in other exciting news, MachineGames Lead Prop Artist Pontus Wåhlin spoke about his excitement regarding the studio’s “upcoming projects” in plural. This consists of a clever subtlety pointing toward the fact that the team presently has more than one title behind closed doors.
The broadly possible speculation creates the question mark, but as things stand with current analysis, it heavily favors the third installment of the famed studio’s shooter series, Wolfenstein 3. Jerk Gustafsson, head of MachineGames, has earlier indicated that they always envisioned their rebooted narrative consisting of a trilogy, clarifying that they are “not done” with the franchise just yet. Ironically, all of this is compounded by the announcement of a live-action series of Wolfenstein currently under planning at the studios of Amazon MGM. With the synchronicity of both projects, ZeniMax, which entered the fold of Microsoft, would maximize cross-media momentum for the game by launching it alongside the television adaptation.
The other, of course, would be related to the continuing story of Indiana Jones, something Microsoft gaming CEO Phil Spencer has already alluded to considering the ongoing popularity of the franchise. But the long-standing plans for a fully rounded Wolfenstein trilogy make this title the most immediate candidate for teasing that sixth slot. Whatever the end reveal, the developer’s rather calculated announcement has quite effectively coalesced the industry’s attention to the considerable projects currently underfoot at MachineGames.
