Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Anniversary Update: NG Plus Cairo Outfit Epilogue

MachineGames’ Anniversary Update for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle lands as a meaningful post‑launch boost: it adds a proper New Game Plus mode that carries over Adventure Book progress, introduces a new Cairo outfit inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark, brings voice language select and automatic tuning for upcoming ROG Xbox Ally handhelds — and tucks in a surprising, previously unseen epilogue that plays after the credits.

Background / Overview​

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle arrived to strong praise for its cinematic pacing, puzzle design, and faithful action‑adventure tone. Since launch the team at MachineGames has supported the title with bug fixes and the single‑player expansion The Order of Giants, and the studio marked its 15th anniversary by shipping a free content update that consolidates popular community requests while polishing technical rough edges.
The Anniversary Update is notable for three reasons. First, it answers one of the loudest community calls with an actual New Game Plus that allows players to restart the campaign with previously unlocked Adventure Book skills and unspent progression. Second, it adds quality‑of‑life features — a new outfit (the Cairo look), a flexible voice language selector, and a handful of vendor and UI fixes. Third, it prepares the game for the incoming handheld hardware wave by detecting ASUS ROG Xbox Ally devices and automatically applying recommended graphics settings for better performance on those systems.
Taken together, these adjustments make the game more replayable, more accessible, and better prepared for the rapidly evolving hardware ecosystem. The most eyebrow‑raising addition, however, is the new post‑credits ending unlocked only after a New Game Plus completion — a creative decision that raises both excitement and questions about future narrative plans.

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What New Game Plus actually offers​

How it works — a clean, player‑friendly implementation​

New Game Plus (NG+) in this update is designed to be simple and straightforward. After finishing the main story, players are presented with a New Game Plus option when creating a new save. The key elements that carry over are:

• All Adventure Book skills previously unlocked.
• Unspent Adventure Points available at your last save.
• Local currency and Medicine Bottles you had on hand.

MachineGames recommends bumping up difficulty for NG+ because players will be significantly more powerful with all Adventure Book abilities intact, and the setup menu lets you adjust difficulty at the start of the run.

Why this matters for replayability​

Many modern single‑player adventures live or die on replay value. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is strongly narrative and puzzle‑driven; offering NG+ changes the calculus for players who loved the game’s encounters and want to experiment with alternate skill builds, tougher difficulties, or missed collectibles. The most important benefits:

• It rewards completionists by making a second run faster and more flexible.
• It encourages players to try harder difficulties without feeling punished.
• It extends the game’s lifespan on subscription services and storefronts by giving streamers and content creators fresh reasons to return.

Carryover limitations and practical advice​

The update purposely keeps NG+ focused on Adventure Book progression and consumables rather than full loot or weapon stacks. This helps preserve challenge while still letting players feel powerful. Practical tips for players starting NG+:

• Increase the difficulty to get a meaningful challenge.
• Spend or hoard Adventure Points strategically — the first few hours of NG+ can snowball quickly.
• Use the chance to hunt missed story items and to test alternate approaches to puzzles and combat encounters.

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The mysterious new ending: deliberate design or tease?​

What the update adds​

Completing the game in New Game Plus unlocks a brand‑new ending sequence that plays after the credits. It’s intentionally positioned as an epilogue — not a gameplay chapter — and appears to expand or refract the story in a way the base game does not.

Creative reasoning — why an after‑credits epilogue?​

There are a few likely motivations behind this choice:

• Rewarding dedicated players. Players who commit to NG+ receive exclusive narrative content, a time‑honored design pattern that incentivizes extended play without gating the core story.
• Narrative stitching. An epilogue can be used to close loose threads, hint at future projects, or redress ambiguous character beats without reworking the main campaign.
• Future franchise signaling. A post‑credits scene is the industry’s favorite method for teasing sequels or adjacent projects without promising anything upfront.

Risks and reader expectations​

While the new ending is exciting, it also invites speculation. If the scene hints at a sequel, spin‑off, or license extension, there’s risk in overpromising. MachineGames may be using a short epilogue strictly for atmosphere or to nod to fans; it may also be deliberately ambiguous to seed conversation. Either way, the addition increases goodwill and keeps the community engaged, but it should be treated as a teaser, not a formal announcement of a new project.

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Outfits, languages, and accessibility features​

The Cairo outfit and cosmetic roadmap​

The Anniversary Update ships with a free Cairo outfit, a classic look fans requested that calls back to Raiders of the Lost Ark. The outfit is available in the Options menu under Outfits and can be worn whenever Indy isn’t disguised. MachineGames has indicated more outfits will be delivered in the future, suggesting an ongoing cosmetic roadmap that balances community requests with modest post‑launch economics.
Why cosmetics matter:

• They create identity and customization for players.
• They’re low‑risk content that yields strong engagement.
• For streaming and community content, visibly different skins boost discoverability and excitement.

Voice Language Select and localization improvements​

A welcome quality‑of‑life feature is voice language select: players can now choose among multiple voice languages independently of text languages. This broadens accessibility and helps players experience the game in their preferred spoken language while keeping localized UI and subtitles where they are most comfortable.
Other localization patches in the update fix language‑specific alignment and UI issues, improving the experience for non‑English players.

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Technical work: fixes and handheld tuning​

Patch notes highlights — stability and gameplay fixes​

The update includes a long list of bug fixes that address immersion‑breaking bugs, animation glitches, and progression blocks. Notable fixes include:

• Corrections to enemy animation states (stumble/finishers).
• Fixes for grabbed‑enemy and "disguise door" interactions.
• Resolved cases of items sticking to the player across level transitions.
• Mission‑specific audio and animation fixes in Peru, Gizeh, Sukhothai, and Iraq.
• UI fixes: vendor prices showing correctly and vendor interaction key binding conflicts addressed.
• PC fixes: binding issues that blocked buying items and reflection quality bugs that darkened assets.

Cumulatively these patches tighten up the experience and reduce rare progression blockers that fragmented playthrough reports had highlighted.

Xbox Ally detection and automatic graphics tuning​

MachineGames added automatic detection and recommended graphics settings for upcoming ASUS ROG Xbox Ally handhelds. The update will detect when the title runs on Ally hardware and select graphics settings tuned to the device’s performance profile — a pragmatic step given that handhelds vary widely in thermal headroom and battery capacity.
Why this matters:

• It reduces user setup friction on new form factors.
• It helps maintain consistent frame rates and battery life on portable devices.
• It signals developer engagement with the handheld ecosystem rather than treating it as an afterthought.

Given the arrival of several Ally models with different performance envelopes, automatic tuning is a developer friend and a player convenience.

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The Order of Giants DLC: context for the Anniversary Update​

How the DLC shaped expectations​

The Order of Giants — a short, content‑dense expansion — delivered more exploration, puzzles, and narrative moments, but critics and players called it "compact" and noted occasional technical roughness. That DLC served as a testing ground for post‑launch ideas and likely informed the Anniversary Update’s content selection.
Key takeaways from the DLC cycle:

• Short, focused expansions can satisfy appetite for more story while keeping development scope manageable.
• DLC feedback (on bugs, navigation pain points, and puzzle clarity) helps prioritize targeted fixes in later patches.
• Community appetite for cosmetic and gameplay additions (such as NG+ and outfits) remains high, and the Anniversary Update directly addresses those demands.

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What this means for MachineGames — Wolfenstein, future projects, and studio focus​

Studio priorities and public comments​

Leadership at MachineGames has publicly expressed an interest in returning to Wolfenstein and completing the protagonist BJ Blazkowicz’s narrative — a trilogy they planned from the start. At the same time, MachineGames has been active with licensed work (Indiana Jones) and post‑launch support for that title. The Anniversary Update reinforces that the studio is invested in long‑term support for big single‑player experiences while keeping the door open to future returns to its own IPs.

Cross‑media signals: a Wolfenstein TV adaptation and franchise momentum​

Industry activity around the Wolfenstein IP has increased, including a TV adaptation in development at a major streamer. While MachineGames’ involvement as an executive producer on adaptations and studio leaders’ statements about a potential third Wolfenstein game are not confirmations of a game project, they do suggest:

• The IP is receiving multi‑platform attention.
• There’s institutional interest in reviving or expanding Wolfenstein’s universe.
• Any new Wolfenstein game would likely be large and require substantial scheduling and resourcing.

For MachineGames, that means continued balancing between supporting a commercially strong licensed property and pursuing its own signature franchise ambitions.

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SEO‑friendly technical notes and platform availability​

• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is available on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (Steam and Microsoft Store), and PlayStation 5.
• A Nintendo Switch 2 port is in development and slated for release in 2026.
• The Anniversary Update was rolled out as a free patch timed with MachineGames’ 15th anniversary and includes New Game Plus, Cairo outfit, and voice language select, plus numerous bug fixes and optimizations.
• The game is included with Xbox Game Pass on console and PC, which helps explain MachineGames’ focus on post‑launch longevity and cross‑platform polish.
• For handheld players, the update adds ASUS ROG Xbox Ally detection and recommended settings to better align visual fidelity with portable performance and battery constraints.

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Strengths of the Anniversary Update​

• Direct response to community demand. New Game Plus and the Cairo outfit were frequent requests; shipping both is a clear signal the studio listens.
• Replayability boost. NG+ adds meaningful incentive to replay with retained progression, improving long‑term engagement metrics.
• Polish plus quality‑of‑life. The voice language selector and targeted bug fixes reduce friction and broaden accessibility for international players.
• Forward‑looking hardware support. Ally detection shows proactive device support and readiness for an expanding handheld market.

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Potential risks and open questions​

• Expectation management around the new ending. The post‑credits epilogue will inevitably prompt speculation about sequels or larger plans; if the studio doesn’t follow up with substantive announcements, some fans may feel teased rather than rewarded.
• NG+ balance concerns. Carrying over all Adventure Book skills could trivialize parts of the game without careful difficulty scaling; MachineGames’ recommendation to increase difficulty mitigates this, but player behavior will reveal whether balance adjustments are needed.
• Handheld performance variability. Automatic recommended settings are a good start, but handheld experience varies widely by thermal management and power profiles; ongoing driver and firmware changes could require more patches.
• Fragmentation of cosmetic content. If future outfits are monetized or gated in ways players dislike, the goodwill from free content could be eroded.

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Practical advice for players and owners​

• Complete the base story at least once before diving into NG+ to appreciate the narrative beats and to make the most of Adventure Book carryover.
• If replaying, bump the difficulty to preserve challenge and explore alternative playstyles.
• Switch voice and text languages in the new settings to find the combination that best suits immersion and comprehension.
• On PC, verify key bindings after the update; a few players noted earlier issues with vendor buy interactions and button conflicts — the patch addresses known cases, but custom bindings can still merit a quick check.
• For Ally or other handheld owners, trust the automatic recommended settings as a baseline, but be prepared to tweak options for battery life or maximum framerate depending on your priorities.

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Conclusion​

MachineGames’ Anniversary Update for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is the kind of post‑launch package that single‑player fans want: tangible gameplay additions, meaningful replay incentives, and practical technical polish. New Game Plus and the Cairo outfit deliver immediately perceived value, while the voice language selector and handheld tuning broaden accessibility and device compatibility. The new post‑credits ending is the update’s narrative headline — a smart, community‑pleasing flourish that may hint at future ambitions without committing the studio to a specific direction.
For players still on the fence, the update makes a stronger case for replaying the globe‑spanning adventure; for MachineGames, it reinforces a development posture that mixes franchise stewardship with ongoing support. The most intriguing outcome may be the conversation the new ending sparks: whether it’s a self‑contained flourish or the opening move toward a larger story remains to be seen, but either way, the update keeps Indiana Jones and the Great Circle in the conversation — and that alone is a sign of healthy post‑launch stewardship.

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Source: Windows Central Indiana Jones and the Great Circle update adds New Game Plus — and a mysterious new ending