The best video game adaptations of blockbuster films.
Honored to see Indiana Jones and the Great circle named #1 on IGN’s list of the Top 10 Best Licensed Games Based on Movies. IGN’s write-up really nails what MachineGames and our partners set out to do: not just make a playable film, but translate the spirit, humor, intelligence, and sense of adventure that made the original trilogy so enduring. Seeing the game described as both referential and transformative is especially meaningful.
This recognition also hits close to home for me. Licensed games have defined much of my career for nearly 30 years, across worlds like Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Monkey Island, Pixar, Disney, Tony Hawk, Family Guy, and many others. Adapting beloved IP isn’t about replication. It’s about deep respect for the source material, strong creative partnerships, and knowing when to protect the canon and when to push it forward.
At a time when IP is more valuable than ever, and when the industry conversation increasingly centers on who can steward these worlds responsibly, I’m incredibly grateful to be part of a team and a legacy that continues to prove what’s possible when experience, trust, and ambition align.
Huge thanks to IGN for the acknowledgment, and to the incredible teams and partners who made The Great Circle what it is. This one belongs to all of you. Here’s what they said:
1. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
We wouldn’t have the likes of Tomb Raider or Uncharted without Indiana Jones, and in 2024, the king came back to claim his throne. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle took everything that made the original trilogy of Steven Spielberg films so special and managed to translate it into a lovingly designed video game from Wolfenstein developer MachineGames — perhaps not so coincidentally, a studio formed by former Escape from Butcher Bay developers. Not only is The Great Circle a fantastic, stealthy, puzzle-filled action-adventure that really places an emphasis on the adventure part, but it borrows all of the archaeological intrigue and, crucially, humour that makes the likes of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade so special. So much, in fact, that the story told here would slot in nicely between them and act as a superior third of that trilogy than Temple of Doom ever did.
Throw in a fantastic pitch-perfect Harrison Ford impression from Troy Baker, a suitably swarmy performance from Marios Gavrilis for the villainous Emmerich Voss, and a healthy amount of Nazi punching, whipping, and shovel-smacking, and you’ve got all of the ingredients you need. But it’s so much more than just a playable film, instead grounding itself in flexible immersive-sim-esque gameplay systems that emphasise using brain over brawn. Violence is rarely considered a first option, and gained knowledge is always a much sharper weapon. It makes for a truly fantastic game in its own right, but one that is as referential as it is transformative, and a true-to-life version of what the Indiana Jones character is — a doctor, not a soldier. The Great Circle is as thought-out a licensed game based on a movie as you could wish for, and a perfect fit for the top of our list.
