Microsoft killed PS5 version of Bethesda's Indiana Jones game
Bethesda confirmed its Indiana Jones game won't have a PlayStation 5 version, though it did exist at one point. According to Bethesda's Pete Hines, that version of the incoming title was killed after Microsoft acquired Bethesda in 2020.
In today's trial with the FTC to defend its merger with Activision Blizzard, Hines acknowledged that Disney originally conscripted MachineGames to develop a multiplatform game based on the films. However, that deal was amended after the aforementioned acquisition, and it will now release strictly on Xbox, console-wise.
Hines explained that he was told by Xbox's Phil Spencer that the title was amended as a way of "reducing risk and trying to get a degree of clarity."
Since Disney is involved in the game's development, that changes how the game is made, which he said would've added "a ton of time" to the project. He noted that when it comes to licensed games, a developer may not have full control as they would with their own property.
"You don't get to take as long as you want," explained Hines. "You have a window of time in which you’re going to release a game, you immediately have a clock that’s ticking on you."
His words echo that of Liquid Swords' Christofer Sundberg. When he was still at Avalanche Software, the studio was approached to make an Iron Man game, and said a short development time would've ultimately ruined the studio had it not been canceled.
Given that the Indiana Jones game was revealed in 2021 and a new movie is set to come out next week, there's some merit given to both Sundberg and Hines' words.
The Indiana Jones game is the second confirmed Bethesda title that had its PlayStation version canceled before release. Earlier in the year, Arkane's Harvey Smith revealed that a
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