Indiana Jones and the Great Circle launched on December 9, 2024, from MachineGames — the Swedish studio behind the Wolfenstein reboot series. Running on id Tech 7 (the same engine as DOOM Eternal and Wolfenstein: Youngblood), Great Circle is a first-person adventure set between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. It was a timed Xbox exclusive before launching on PlayStation 5 and remained on PC via Steam and Xbox Game Pass from day one. On PC it is one of the better-optimized AAA titles of its launch year, thanks to id Tech 7's historically excellent CPU efficiency. That said, specific settings still have outsized impact, and NVIDIA DLSS 3 Frame Generation on RTX 40-series cards makes the difference between 60 and 90+ fps at 4K. This guide covers everything you need.
System Requirements — Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on PC
| Tier | GPU | CPU | RAM | Storage | Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | GTX 1080 / RX 5700 XT | i7-9700K / Ryzen 5 3600 | 16 GB | 100 GB SSD | 1080p 60 fps |
| Recommended | RTX 2080 Ti / RX 6800 XT | i9-10900K / Ryzen 9 5900X | 16 GB | 100 GB SSD | 1440p 60 fps |
| Ultra 4K | RTX 4080 / RX 7900 XTX | i9-10900K / Ryzen 9 5900X | 32 GB | 100 GB SSD | 4K 60 fps |
An SSD is required. id Tech 7 uses streaming level geometry extensively — HDDs cause zone loading stutters that an SSD eliminates. The install footprint is approximately 100 GB, reflecting high-resolution cinematic assets and uncompressed audio.
CPU efficiency is id Tech 7's calling card. Great Circle does not hammer CPU cores the way open-world games do. A Ryzen 5 3600 or i7-9700K delivers nearly the same CPU frame time as a Ryzen 9 7950X in most scenarios. GPU is the binding constraint for almost all players.
Where to Buy and Download
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is available on:
- Steam (premium purchase)
- Xbox Game Pass PC (included with subscription)
- Xbox App / Windows PC store
The Game Pass inclusion makes it one of the higher-profile games available on the service. If you are a Game Pass subscriber, there is no reason to purchase separately.
Best PC Settings for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle — Ranked by Impact
| Setting | Recommended | FPS Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Texture Quality | High (VRAM gate) | ★★★★☆ High (VRAM bound) |
| Shadow Resolution | Medium–High | ★★★★★ Very High |
| Volumetric Lighting | Medium | ★★★☆☆ Moderate |
| Ambient Occlusion | SSAO | ★★★☆☆ Moderate |
| Global Illumination | Low–Medium | ★★★★☆ High |
| Reflection Quality | Medium | ★★☆☆☆ Low |
| Motion Blur | Off | ★☆☆☆☆ Preference |
| Depth of Field | Off | ★☆☆☆☆ Preference |
Shadow Resolution is the #1 performance lever. id Tech 7 uses cascaded shadow maps that re-render each frame — dropping from Ultra to High recovers 15–20 fps on RTX 2080-class hardware with minimal visible change at distances beyond 5 meters. The difference between High and Ultra is appreciable only in close-up cutscene lighting.
Texture Quality is a VRAM gate, not a performance lever. On a card with 8 GB VRAM, High textures stay within VRAM budget with comfortable headroom. Ultra textures require 10–12 GB VRAM; forcing them on an 8 GB card causes VRAM overflow, which produces stuttering and streaming pop-in worse than running Medium. Match Texture Quality to your VRAM: 8 GB → High, 10–12 GB → Ultra, 6 GB → Medium.
Global Illumination in Great Circle is screen-space based (not ray traced) — it is more expensive than typical SSAO but much cheaper than hardware RT. On recommended hardware, set to Medium. Low sacrifices visible ambient light detail in interior environments (caves, temples) where the game spends significant time.
Upscaling: DLSS, FSR, and XeSS
MachineGames shipped Great Circle with full upscaling support from day one:
| Upscaler | Hardware | Quality Mode FPS Gain | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLSS 3.5 + Frame Gen | RTX 40-series | 70–90% | Ray Reconstruction also available |
| DLSS 3 | RTX 20/30-series | 30–40% | No Frame Gen |
| FSR 3.1 + Frame Gen | RX 7000-series | 55–70% | Native AA option removed when active |
| FSR 2.2 | Any GPU | 25–35% | Good fallback for AMD 5000-series |
| XeSS 1.3 | Any GPU | 20–30% | Best on Intel Arc; acceptable on NVIDIA/AMD |
RTX 40-series users: DLSS Quality + Frame Generation at 1440p targets 90–110 fps with High settings. At 4K: DLSS Quality + FG targets 65–80 fps. This is the recommended configuration for 4K play.
RTX 30-series users: DLSS Quality at 1440p High settings targets 60–75 fps — fully comfortable for this type of game. First-person adventure games are less sensitive to frame rate ceiling than shooters; 60 fps feels excellent.
GPU Tier Performance Reference (1440p High Settings, No Upscaling)
| GPU | Average FPS |
|---|---|
| GTX 1080 | ~38 fps |
| RTX 2080 Ti | ~58 fps |
| RX 6800 XT | ~60 fps |
| RTX 3080 | ~72 fps |
| RTX 4070 | ~88 fps |
| RX 7900 XTX | ~90 fps |
| RTX 4090 | ~110 fps |
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PC — Known Issues and Fixes
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Stuttering during area transitions | SSD required; if on HDD, install will not fully resolve this |
| Low VRAM error / texture pop-in | Lower Texture Quality to match VRAM; see VRAM tier table above |
| Crash on startup | Verify files on Steam; update GPU drivers |
| Frame Gen causes input lag | Add in-game motion blur to compensate (paradoxical but effective for many players) |
| HDR washed out | id Tech 7 HDR requires calibration — lower peak brightness to 600–800 nits in-game |
| Controller dead zone issue | id Tech games favor keyboard/mouse; increase dead zone in controller settings |
| Game Pass version won't launch | Run Xbox App as administrator; sign out and sign in |
| Cutscene fps cap | Engine locks cutscenes to 30 fps when frame rate is above 120 — expected behavior |
| No ultrawide support | 21:9 supported; 32:9 not officially supported (black bars) |
| Low CPU usage, GPU at 100% | Normal and correct — id Tech 7 is GPU-bound by design |
Understanding Indiana Jones and the Great Circle — Core Mechanics
First-Person Adventure with Light Puzzle Combat. Great Circle is not a shooter. Indy carries a whip and a revolver, but MachineGames designed the game around problem-solving: reading the environment, using disguises, picking locks, finding traversal routes, and solving ancient mechanisms. The whip is used as much for swinging across gaps, pulling levers, and disarming enemies as for combat. Players expecting a DOOM-pace experience will be surprised — this is closer to Dishonored or Alien: Isolation in pacing.
The Setting and Timeline. The game is set in 1937, between Raiders of the Lost Ark (1936) and The Last Crusade (1938). Indy investigates a mysterious phenomenon called the Great Circle — a series of geographically significant sacred sites that seem to be connected by ancient mathematics. Locations include the Vatican, Gizeh, Thailand, Sukhothai ruins, and a final act set in the Soviet Union. The game is fully story-canonical — MachineGames worked with Lucasfilm to ensure consistency.
Disguise System. Large parts of the game take place inside guarded facilities — a museum, a Vatican archive, an Egyptian dig site. Indy can steal or acquire uniforms to move through restricted areas without combat. Disguises have durability and specific permission levels — a janitor's uniform gets you into service corridors but not the officer's quarters. This system rewards patient exploration over run-and-gun approaches.
The Whip as a Traversal Tool. Most traversal puzzles have a whip anchor point — a hook, a beam, a statue arm — that Indy can swing from. Many multi-room puzzles are solved by identifying the correct sequence of anchor use combined with a tossed object or lever activation. The whip feel and animation are the most praised aspects of the game's design.
Combat — Avoid When Possible, Improvise When Not. When stealth or disguise fails, Indy fights with improvised close-quarters brawling, whip disarms, and environmental hazards. Ammunition for the revolver is scarce; treat it as a last resort. Most encounters in tight corridors can be managed by disarming one enemy with the whip and using their weapon until depleted. The combat is deliberately unreliable — Indy is a professor, not a soldier — and the game rewards finding ways around it more than through it.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle vs. Similar Games
| Game | Style | Length | Tone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Circle (2024) | FP adventure, puzzles, stealth | 15–20 hours | Cinematic, period pulp |
| Dishonored 2 (2016) | FP stealth-action | 10–15 hours | Dark, supernatural |
| Alien: Isolation (2014) | FP survival horror | 15–20 hours | Tense, methodical |
| Wolfenstein II (2017) | FP shooter (same dev) | 10–12 hours | Action-heavy |
Great Circle is the most accessible of MachineGames' projects for players who are not primarily FPS-focused. Its puzzle density and narrative pacing prioritize exploration over reflexes.
8 Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on Game Pass? A: Yes — included with Xbox Game Pass PC from launch day. This is one of the stronger Game Pass day-one value offerings.
Q: How long is the game? A: Main story: 15–20 hours. Completionist with all puzzles and collectibles: 25–30 hours.
Q: Is Harrison Ford in the game? A: Harrison Ford did not reprise the voice role. MachineGames used an AI-assisted voice match (with Ford's input and approval) alongside a separate actor for body performance capture. The likeness is used with full licensing.
Q: Does it require a Bethesda.net account? A: The Steam version requires a one-time Xbox/Microsoft account link for achievements. Gameplay itself is not online-gated.
Q: Is there ray tracing? A: DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction is available for RTX 40-series cards. Hardware ray tracing for reflections is present as an option on all RTX-class hardware. It is not required for a visually excellent experience.
Q: Steam Deck compatibility? A: Unsupported as of launch. The 100 GB install size and Texture Quality requirements push past Steam Deck's storage and VRAM limits comfortably. A Deck-specific patch has not been announced.
Q: Is the game open world? A: No — Great Circle is hub-based. Each of the five major locations is a large, explorable sandbox level, not a connected open world. Think Hitman's approach: a self-contained map with multiple routes, secrets, and optional objectives per chapter.
Q: Is it related to the Wolfenstein series canonically? A: No — same developer (MachineGames) but wholly different IP and universe. No characters or lore cross over.