PS3, 360 Indiana Jones hanging up hat?

Source: A brief news bulletin on game-info site IGN.

What we heard: Remember the last time LucasArts showed its Xbox 360 and PlayStation Indiana Jones game to the public? No? That's probably because it was more than two and a half years ago when the first--and to date, only--trailer for the then-"next-generation" console game was released to the public. The previous several months had been filled with announcements about the film tie-in and its cutting-edge technology, particularly its graphics and use of NaturalMotion's Euphoria middleware to mimic human behavior.

However, since August 2006, the Indiana Jones game has been tucked away inside LucasArts like the Ark of the Covenant in a Defense Department warehouse. This week, though, saw news of the game surface--or news of its demise, anyway. Citing "multiple sources inside and outside of LucasArts," IGN's brief snippet says that the Indiana Jones adventure has been straight-up canceled, with its development team being broken up and spread around to other projects. No reason for the purported cancellation has been given.

The official story: LucasArts had not responded to GameSpot's requests for comment as of press time. However, the San Francisco-based publisher offered game blog Joystiq the following statement: "LucasArts remains absolutely committed to the Indiana Jones franchise. While we are aware that fans have been eagerly awaiting additional information on the upcoming game, they can rest assured that details are forthcoming."

Bogus or not bogus?: Not enough to go on. On one hand, when a game is not seen such for a long period, it's often a sign that it isn't presentable to the public. However, the studio just enjoyed its biggest success in years with The Force Unleashed, which sold 1.5 million copies worldwide in its first week on sale.

However, with all-new IP Fracture dead on arrival critically and commercially, the publisher needs its filmic sibling LucasFilm's properties, which are so etched in the global psyche that they're effectively critic-proof. Case in point: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which overcame poor reviews from high-profile outlets to become 2008's third-highest-grossing film. LucasArts would likely nuke as many refrigerators as it needs to get a piece of Skull's $317 million box-office pie.