MachineGames reveals storyline Indiana Jones and the Circle It revolves around a real-world hypothesis that claims ancient ruins around the world were built in deliberate alignment, forming what’s known as the Great Circle.
In an interview with Lucasfilm, game director Jerk Gustafsson shared how the unorthodox theory of a great circle connecting ancient ruins inspired the game’s plot.
“A great circle is any circle that divides a sphere into two halves,” Gustafson said. “On Earth, the most famous are obviously the equator. But they can actually exist at any point and are heavily used in the aviation industry when planning routes.
“It turns out that there is a very real and mysterious great circle that is not the equator, but a circle that connects many of history’s greatest historical sites, such as Giza, Easter Island, Sukhothai, Nazca and many more. They The connection remains a mystery, which provides the perfect adventure for our game.”
MachineGames worked on the synopsis with Bethesda’s Todd Howard, who has been developing a story-based game inspired by unconventional premise for several years.
While such a theme would fit within the Raiders of the Lost Ark universe, to ensure the storyline connected to the film’s larger narrative, MachineGames enlisted the help of Lucasfilm.
“When we entered the story, almost a year had passed since Raiders, and we wanted to explore where Indy would be at this point, freshly separated from Marion, lost again and lost in his obsession with his job,” said Gustafson.
“We had tremendous help from the Lucasfilm Games team on this, in addition to reviewing the story with them to get creative feedback to ensure we stayed true to the series.”
Explain the big circle
The Great Circle Theory, proposed by Jim Alison and published online in 1995, suggests that many of the world’s ancient structures are connected by a large, uninterrupted circle. Some ancient sites do not exactly line up with the proposed line, but their inclusion is justified because they deviate by only one degree or less.
Ancient ruins said to be arranged in a large circle include Easter Island, Nazca, Ollantaytambo and Giza. Slightly off-trail sites include Petra, Persepolis, Ollantaytambo, Machu Picchu, the Oracle of Amun (Amun) in the Siwa Oasis, Mohenjo-daro, Ur, and Angkor Wat wait. This circle includes not only explored land, but also unknown territories and underwater depths where ancient ruins may exist.
Other great circles include the equator and the meridians passing through the North and South Poles.
The idea that ancient societies deliberately built neatly aligned sacred sites was first theorized in 1846, and the concept resonated with many in the early 20th century. The theory has led some proponents to identify lines connecting England’s mysterious monuments, megaliths and medieval churches. These arrangements are called ley lines.
Currently, the controversial theories of Ley Lines and Great Circles are not supported by facts, leading both to be classified as pseudo-archaeology or pseudoscience by many historians, archaeologists, and anthropologists. While outliers exist within these disciplines, those who study or assert the validity of ancient arrangements often encounter the real threat of ridicule and professional ostracism.
All in all, while drawing lines on a map or circles around the globe may tantalizingly connect distant historical sites, the pattern only fuels speculation and remains mere coincidence until supported by rigorous evidence.
However, the idea of our ancestors coordinating monuments across continents into a unified vision is a pretty interesting premise for a video game.
Indiana Jones and the Circle was finally revealed at an Xbox developer direct earlier this week, and is scheduled to release on Game Pass, PC, and Xbox Series X/S later this year.