“I’ve been looking for a way to do it ever since,” admits Todd Howard.

Bethesda surprised everyone earlier this year by announcing a new Indiana Jones game. The ambitious project is being led by MachineGames, the company responsible for the last Wolfenstein, who, like Hollywood’s most famous archaeologist, are no strangers to the abolition of Nazis. While this proposal comes after a change of direction at LucasFilm Games, which also led to the announcement of a new open-world Star Wars with Ubisoft, the truth is that this is a project that has been in the works for over a decade. At least that’s what its producer Todd Howard claims.

In an interview with The Telegraph, the Bethesda creative director admits that the company offered an Indiana Jones game to George Lucas back in 2009. Talking about the future of the company and the games in the pipeline, Howard says he’s excited about the prospect of working with one of the most iconic characters in adventure movies. “I think I proposed the game to Lucas in 2009 and I’ve been looking for a way to do it ever since.”

“And the work they do at MachineGames makes them exceptional developers and storytellers,” says Howard. “When I started talking to them about the game, they seemed like a good match. Then we had the opportunity to talk to Lucas and Disney about it, and they were very excited. I really love Indiana Jones, but I never thought I would have the opportunity to create a game.

“You’ll be hearing more about it in the future. But the MachineGames team is the best team in the world to make this game and they’re doing a phenomenal job.”

It wasn’t announced until January 2021 and the development of the new Indiana Jones game is still in the very early stages, so it will be a while before Indy takes his whip out for a walk.