December 6, 2024 6:00am PT

Why Xbox’s ‘Indiana Jones’ Is Just What the Video Game Industry Needs to Salvage 2024

Photo Illustration: Variety VIP+; "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle" courtesy of Bethesda

After a rousing “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6,” “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle” arrives to lead Xbox’s multiplatform push
In light of “This Is an Xbox” marketing push, Microsoft needs another high-profile title to prove itself a gaming software leader
Amid continued misfortune for new live services, “The Great Circle” is the game every AAA publisher should commit to

“Indiana Jones and the Great Circle” comes to Xbox consoles, PC and Xbox Game Pass on Dec. 9, closing 2024’s mostly dire run of games in the AAA space.

PlayStation, Xbox’s longtime console rival, is certainly in need of new AAA titles as it pulls out of its push into live services, a section of the industry that is struggling to deliver new online hits amid the enduring dominance of mammoths such as “Fortnite” and “Roblox.”

Additionally, games based on Hollywood IP have hit a wall this year, underscoring the need for a release like “The Great Circle” to undo this trend as new companies form business models around addressing the issue.

February’s “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League” cost Warner Bros.’ Games up to $200 million in losses after significant delays and poor reception, while Ubisoft’s “Star Wars Outlaws” in August underperformed enough for the publisher to push back “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” to February next year, moving its top franchise out of a Q4 release window for the first time.

Luckily for “The Great Circle,” reviews came in Thursday and skew very positive, after October previews also generated strong buzz.

As the face of Xbox’s aggressive multiplatform push, a successful launch is needed.

“The Great Circle” is the first new AAA title from the Xbox camp to already have a PlayStation release guaranteed before launch. While October’s “Black Ops 6” was the best launch yet for “Call of Duty,” a huge success for Xbox and its Game Pass subscription service in the wake of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, that game’s availability on PlayStation was expected even before the FTC made it a necessary component of the deal.

As such, “The Great Circle” is the first real sign that Microsoft Gaming recognizes the console wars are essentially over, delivering on a need to make up for the slowdown in AAA titles that I highlighted in February after Xbox announced plans to begin releasing more catalog titles on PlayStation.

As long as Xbox continues to match fewer than half of PlayStation’s console sales and makes new games free for Game Pass subscribers, it leaves substantial software sales on the table, which isn’t quite Microsoft’s tempo.

Plus, there is also its “This Is an Xbox” marketing blitz, which kicked off in November and posits that any device that can play its games is an Xbox. If that is meant to be taken seriously, then the performance of games like “The Great Circle” on Xbox’s home turf, Game Pass and eventually PlayStation will be crucial toward proving Xbox is now the de facto software leader and should be releasing as many games as possible for PlayStation.

After Sony Interactive Entertainment made big cuts at “Destiny” studio Bungie and closed PlayStation studio Firewalk in the wake of its disastrous launch of “Concord,” adding to the year’s 14,000 layoffs, Ubisoft on Tuesday announced it will shut down multiplayer shooter “XDefiant” in 2025 and lay off half of its production team as a result, all while shuttering offices in Osaka and Sydney.

“The Great Circle” isn’t just a big test for how Microsoft Gaming wants to rebrand Xbox, it’s also, frankly, the exact kind of game many publishers moved away from so they could divert resources to launching new live services, which has proved fruitless.

Outside of gaming, it’s also an important licensed product for Disney to watch, as the company’s search for a successor to CEO Bob Iger has reportedly included such gaming CEOs as EA’s Andrew Wilson.

After 2023’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” proved too bloated on the budget front to make the most of its lower-than-expected box office, “The Great Circle” is another way for Disney to test the vitality of its aging franchises after it already invested $1.5 billion in “Fortnite” entity Epic Games for similar purposes.

If “The Great Circle” meets its mark, Disney’s increasing positivity toward video games won’t be fazed by the sales dud of “Star Wars Outlaws” — and both industries can enter 2025 on a lighter note.