With the release of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on Nintendo Switch 2 around the corner, we sat down with Axel Torvenius, Creative Director at MachineGames, to talk about handheld immersion, motion controls, physical releases, and what it means to bring Indiana Jones to an entirely new audience of Nintendo players.
“We want as many gamers as possible to experience Indiana Jones.”
Gaming Boulevard: With Switch 2, we’re seeing more cinematic third-party games arrive on Nintendo hardware. What made Indiana Jones and the Great Circle such a good fit for the platform?
Axel Torvenius:
“At MachineGames, we’re always trying to make sure the game can be enjoyed by as many people as possible. Towards the end of production, when we were notified that this would be a possibility, that was something we immediately welcomed. We want to be on all platforms. We want as many gamers as possible to experience the game.
One of the interesting things about working on Indiana Jones as a whole was realizing how broad the audience really is. There are longtime fans who grew up with the films and were already excited for the game, but there’s also a younger audience that maybe isn’t as familiar with Indiana Jones at all. We still want to give them a high-quality adventure game and introduce them to that world.
That’s where Switch 2 became really interesting for us. It gives even more people the opportunity to discover Indiana Jones. So once the opportunity presented itself, we were eager to figure out how to make it happen, even if it was obviously a huge technical undertaking.”
“It started feeling like its own flavor of the experience.”
Gaming Boulevard: When people think about ports, they often think: “Just make it run on the new system.” But after playing the preview build, this feels more ambitious than a typical port. Did there come a point where the Switch 2 version started feeling like its own way to experience the game?
Axel Torvenius:
“That’s a very interesting question, and honestly, really nice feedback to hear.
Our main mission from the start was making sure there wouldn’t be any noticeable drop in quality. We didn’t want to cut content or reduce the overall experience. The goal was always that Switch 2 players would get the same high-quality adventure as someone playing on PlayStation 5, Xbox or a high-end PC.
Of course, porting to different platforms always comes with challenges. Hardware limitations, memory budgets, performance targets… all of those things matter. We locked the game to 30 frames per second to guarantee a smooth experience because the game contains a huge amount of high-fidelity geometry, textures and materials.
But once we had everything properly running on Switch 2, we started noticing something interesting. The handheld nature of the system changes the way you experience the game. You can take it with you, play it in different environments instead of only sitting at home in front of your TV or PC setup.
Then there’s also the gyro controls and mouse support. Those features give the gameplay a different sensation when aiming or moving around the world. It becomes a slightly different flavor of the experience. You still have the traditional controls if you want them, but those extra features really started making the Switch 2 version feel unique in its own way.”
“We were surprised by how well the game held up in handheld mode.”
Gaming Boulevard: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is such a cinematic experience. Did testing the game in handheld mode change the feeling of certain scenes or moments in ways you didn’t expect?
Axel Torvenius:
“What surprised us most was honestly how well everything held up on the smaller screen. Not just the cinematics, but also the small visual details and overall fidelity.
You could imagine there being readability issues in handheld mode. Maybe icons would become difficult to see, maybe platforming guidance wouldn’t feel as clear, or maybe some of the visual storytelling would get lost. But we didn’t really encounter those problems.
Actually, it was the opposite. We were pleasantly surprised by how immersive the game still felt. Especially if you’re playing with headphones on, the cinematic presentation still really pulls you in.
There were no major restrictions caused by the smaller screen. In many ways, we were genuinely impressed by how naturally the experience translated to handheld play.”
“Gyro and mouse controls add something genuinely tactile.”
Gaming Boulevard: Indiana Jones is such a physical character. He’s climbing, punching, and interacting with traps and objects all the time. Did motion controls help make the experience feel more tactile or immersive on Switch 2?
Axel Torvenius:
“Absolutely. I definitely think there’s an aspect of that.
The gyro implementation feels really nice, especially because players can customize how they want to use it. You can use it more subtly for aiming or have it affect your movement and camera control more directly.
The mouse support also changes the sensation of how you interact with the world. Combined with gyro aiming, it adds more nuance and tactility to movement and combat.
It’s still the same game and traditional controls are fully supported, of course, but these Switch 2-specific features genuinely give the experience a slightly different feel compared to other platforms. It absolutely adds to the immersion in a positive way.”
“Most people won’t notice the compromises, and that’s the goal.”
Gaming Boulevard: Back in the Switch 1 era, people often talked about “impossible ports.” Even now, many players still wonder how games like this run on Nintendo hardware at all. From a development perspective, what kinds of compromises are necessary?
Axel Torvenius:
“There’s obviously a huge amount of work behind the scenes. It’s not like you flip a switch and suddenly have a new build ready to ship.
A lot comes down to optimization. If optimization is done properly, through smart engineering and a lot of hard work, ideally players won’t even notice what had to happen technically to make things run smoothly.
Locking the game to 30 FPS was crucial. That made it possible to maintain the visual quality we wanted because the game is extremely dense in terms of geometry, materials, and textures.
There was only one specific location in the game where we needed to slightly reduce the number of roaming NPCs to maintain performance on Switch 2. Early on, we thought crowds might become a much bigger challenge, but in the end, we only had to scale the amount back slightly in one area instead of removing them completely.
Most optimization work focuses on scaling back things players hopefully won’t even notice, distant background details, rendering costs, and memory-heavy elements. If done correctly, the overall experience still feels intact.”
“We pushed internally for a full physical release.”
Gaming Boulevard: One thing many Nintendo fans immediately noticed was that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle ships as a full physical release instead of a Game-Key Card. How important was that decision for the team?
Axel Torvenius:
“It was something we pushed for internally and something the team really supported.
We recognize that players enjoy games in different ways. Some people are completely digital, and that’s perfectly fine. But for others, having a physical cartridge matters. They want something tangible they can put on a shelf, add to a collection, or revisit years later.
Most of us are nerds, gamers, and collectors ourselves, so we absolutely understand that feeling. There’s something special about physically owning a game, holding it in your hands, and having it become part of your collection.
When we announced the physical release and saw the community reaction, it really confirmed for us that it was the right decision.”
“It feels like getting Christmas a second time.”
Gaming Boulevard: This release introduces Indiana Jones and the Great Circle to a completely new Nintendo audience. What excites you most about that?
Axel Torvenius:
“It honestly feels like getting Christmas a second time.
We spent so many years making this game with so much passion and energy, so the fact that we’re still talking about it over a year later, and now bringing it to an entirely new platform, is incredibly exciting.
I’m sure there will be players who have already experienced the game on console or PC and now get to rediscover it through handheld play or the new control options. But there’s also a whole new audience that’s about to experience Indiana Jones for the very first time.
Seeing the positive response from the community since launch has been amazing, so we’re very excited to welcome Switch 2 players into that world as well.”
“And yes… punch every fascist you can.”
Before wrapping up, we asked Axel for one final tip for newcomers jumping into the adventure for the first time.
Axel Torvenius:
“Don’t underestimate the importance of your journal. It’s your companion throughout the entire game.
There’s a huge amount of content in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. You have the main story, but also side content, collectibles, and lots of exploration. In games with semi-open structures like this, it’s easy to lose track of where you are or what you were doing.
The journal really helps keep everything together.
And, of course… make sure you enjoy punching all the fascists in the face.”
