Documents revealed through the discovery process of the ongoing trial between the US Federal Trade Commission and Microsoft over the latter’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard have revealed that Todd Howard’s pitch for the in-development Indiana Jones title by MachineGames has been impressive.
“I don’t know, Todd might be the biggest Indiana Jones fan on the planet,” reads an internal email by Pete Hines. “I’m not exaggerating even a little. Anyone who has seen the pitch has immediately said ‘oh my god, I have to play that game right now.'”
In the email, Hines is talking to executives like Xbox boss Phil Spencer, head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty, and Xbox chief marketing officer Jerret West. The email also confirms that Howard has been pitching the game, trying to get it made for more than ten years. Howard originally pitched the game to LucasArts all the way back in 2009.
The Indiana Jones game, referred to by its development name Project Relic, doesn’t yet have a release date. The game is seeing being Todd Howard serve as its executive producer, whose involvement won’t affect the release of Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6, according to Pete Hines.
A recent report has indicated that the Indiana Jones game will be released on PC and Xbox. While the game was originally going to be a multiplatform release, plans changed after Microsoft acquired Bethesda and ZeniMax.
Bethesda/Machinegames' Indiana Jones is something Todd Howard had been trying to get made for a decade. "Anyone who has seen the pitch has immediately said, 'oh my god, I have to play that game right now" — Pete Hines email from 2021 (which is now evidence in FTC vs Microsoft) pic.twitter.com/MZi6i0MUL1
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) June 26, 2023
