Todd Howard first pitched an Indiana Jones game to George Lucas in 2009

Indiana Jones
(Image credit: Fox)

The Indiana Jones game from Bethesda was only announced earlier this year, but according to a new interview with Todd Howard, he first pitched it to George Lucas more than a decade ago.

Bethesda has made it clear that the Indiana Jones game in the works at Wolfenstein developer Machine Games is very, very early along in development, which means it will likely be years before we hear any specifics about the game itself. However, Bethesda Game Studios boss Todd Howard was happy to share his excitement about the project in an interview with The Telegraph - while also offering some more background on how it got started.

"I think I originally pitched [to George] Lucas in 2009 and I’ve been trying to find a way to make that [since]," Howard tells The Telegraph. "And I think the work Machine Games have done, they’re just phenomenal developers and storytellers. And when I started talking to them about it, it was a good fit. And we got the opportunity to talk to Lucas and Disney about it and they were super excited.

Howard added that he really likes Indiana Jones - as indicated by the miniature Ark of the Covenant replica he keeps in his bookshelf - but never thought he'd "have the opportunity to make a game" about the beloved franchise. He added that Machine Games "are the best team in the world to pull this game off and they’re doing a phenomenal job" with the property so far.

Much like Lucasfilm's other big movie franchise, Indiana Jones has an inconsistent track record with video game adaptations, though we've picked out a list of the best Indiana Jones games to hit the highlights while you wait for more news on Bethesda's new interactive entry to the series. 

Meanwhile on the film side, Indiana Jones 5 is still in production after Harrison Ford sustained a shoulder injury while rehearsing a fight scene, though the filming schedule is being adjusted to give him time to recuperate. This must be why he just shot that swordsman in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Even without Indiana Jones as part of the lineup, Bethesda was still a huge force in the Xbox E3 2021 showcase.

Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.