The future of first-person shooter franchises is officially taking shape at Xbox and MachineGames. Following a growing trend of corporate announcements breaking away from traditional, highly orchestrated industry showcases like the now-defunct E3, Xbox leadership has taken to social media to confirm that Wolfenstein 3 is officially in production. The announcement follows a similar strategy used earlier this year, when Xbox CEO Asha Sharma casually revealed on Twitter that she had already been given a sneak peek at The Elder Scrolls 6.
The news regarding Wolfenstein 3 broke when Sharma shared a post on Twitter featuring a photograph of the game’s script. Accompanying the photo, Sharma wrote that Wolfenstein 3 is officially in production at MachineGames, highlighting it as one of the most important franchises in video game history and praising the development team for the remarkable work they have done in bringing the series forward. She concluded her message by stating that she looks forward to sharing more details in the future.
Shortly after Sharma’s post went live, MachineGames followed up with an official statement of their own on social media, leaning into the storied legacy of the franchise’s iconic protagonist, B.J. Blazkowicz. In their tweet, the studio wrote that his reputation precedes him and officially confirmed that Wolfenstein 3 is indeed in production. Alongside the same script photograph shared by Sharma, the studio included a behind-the-scenes photo of actress Debra Wilson engaged in a motion-capture session. Wilson is well known to fans of the modern series for her memorable portrayal of Resistance cell leader Grace Walker in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus.
The announcement offers the first official confirmation of the studio’s next major project following the release of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. While MachineGames has remained active—releasing a special Quake expansion to celebrate the landmark 30th anniversary of the classic shooter—fans have been eagerly wondering what the studio’s next full-scale narrative project would be.
Despite the excitement surrounding the confirmation, the initial reveal offers limited insight into the current state of development or when players might realistically expect to get their hands on the game. The display of a script page and a single motion-capture photograph indicates that the project is actively moving through the production pipeline, but given the early nature of these reveals, a near-future release date remains unlikely.
The revival of the franchise on the gaming front also coincides with broader multimedia plans for the intellectual property. Industry reports have noted that a Wolfenstein television series is currently in active development. Notably, the project is being spearheaded by the same creative team behind the highly successful Fallout television adaptation, leaning into the evergreen narrative appeal of fighting against regimes and defeating oppressors. Whether the eventual release of Wolfenstein 3 will intentionally align with the rollout of the upcoming television adaptation remains to be seen, but the dual-front push suggests a renewed corporate focus on the property.
As the community processes the news, discussions have already turned to how MachineGames will choose to title the upcoming installment. Given the studio’s playful history and the convoluted naming conventions that have characterized the first-person shooter genre over the decades, fans have joked about the ironic potential of calling the game Wolfenstein 3D, a tongue-in-cheek nod to the pioneering 1992 id Software classic that essentially birthed the modern 3D shooter genre. Until MachineGames or Xbox decides to pull back the curtain further with trailers, gameplay demonstrations, or official release windows, players will have to content themselves with the knowledge that B.J. Blazkowicz’s war is officially continuing.
