A Lot Of Games Want To Be Indiana Jones
Early player numbers suggest success for Machine Games' cinematic adventure.
The world’s greatest archeologist proved to be just as adept at pulling in gamers as he was pulling in adventurous moviegoers and film buffs in the ‘80s.
Indiana Jones And The Great Circle has reached more than four million players across PC, Xbox, and Cloud Microsoft’s Satya Nadella revealed during a quarterly earnings call this week. The success of the game proves that the iconic character, whose film actor Harrison Ford has likely retired from, might have found new life in the interactive medium.
The figure includes players who both purchased the game and accessed it via an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
The Indiana Jones film franchise may find its second wind in games.
Four million is a pretty impressive figure for the globe-trotting professor. While the character is an undeniable film icon created by visionaries Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas, it’s clear that his best days are behind him in mainstream culture. The last film in the franchise, 2023’s Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny, was a box office disappointment.
While the character is no stranger to games, thanks to his lauded history in point-and-click adventures and action titles from the 90s and 2000s, he’s been absent from the medium since 2009. Machine Games’ decision to stray from the character’s game roots in favor of a first-person adventure game was another risky choice that divided fans in the lead-up to launch.
As expected, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was the biggest game of the fall across Xbox and PlayStation platforms.
Thankfully, going in such a bold new direction paid off significantly. And while the recently shared numbers suggest early success for the game, the best may be yet to come. The game is set to launch on PlayStation 5 in March, giving millions more an opportunity to try one of 2024’s best titles.
Indiana Jones wasn’t the only success for Xbox this quarter. As expected, 2024’s Call of Duty entry Black Ops 6, was the biggest game across both platforms. It “saw more players in its launch quarter than any other paid release in the franchise history,” Nadella said.
