Wolfenstein 3 Rumors: Machine Games Reportedly Deep Into Production Under Codename Valkyrie

Wolfenstein 3 may finally be happening, and if the reports are accurate, Machine Games is not just bringing BJ Blazkowicz back for another round. The game may already be in full production under the codename Valkyrie, performance capture is reportedly underway, and the first leaked character details suggest BJ could be spending much of the game protecting a young girl through regime occupied Europe. That last detail immediately changes what I thought this game was going to be.

After nearly a decade of waiting, most of us expected the third game to be the straightforward conclusion: BJ returns, the Resistance takes the fight directly to Hitler, and Machine Games closes the trilogy with the largest war the series has ever attempted. That could still happen. But when I connect the casting information, the enormous gap between the new Colossus and Youngblood, and what Machine Games just accomplished with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, this sequel may be far more ambitious than another corridor shooter filled with the regime.

Machine Games Confirms Wolfenstein Was Always Planned as a Trilogy

Let's start with what is actually confirmed, because this game has not been officially announced by Bethesda or Xbox yet. Machine Games' studio director has confirmed that the team always viewed its modern Wolfenstein story as a trilogy. According to him, the studio mapped out what would happen to BJ across all three games while it was still developing The New Order.

He also recently made clear that Machine Games is not finished with this franchise, although he stopped short of revealing when the final game would actually happen. His exact message was basically this: "Could be now, it could be later, but they're not done with the game or the franchise."

That matters because this is not a studio suddenly remembering its own popular franchise. Wolfenstein 3 was apparently part of the plan from the very start. The story Machine Games began in 2014 has an ending we haven't seen yet.

Windows Central and Kotaku Reports Point to a Project Codenamed Valkyrie

The reports have gone much further than developers simply saying they would like to make it. In January of this year, Windows Central reported that a new game was in development at Machine Games. Kotaku ran with that and said it had independently confirmed the project through its own sources.

That still doesn't make this an official Xbox announcement, but two separate outlets reporting the same thing is kind of hard to ignore. Then a casting report potentially gave the first real look at what Machine Games is building.

Leaked Casting Details Suggest BJ Protecting a Young Ukrainian Orphan

According to that casting report, production is operating under the codename Valkyrie, with performance capture work expected to run through a substantial part of development. The project is reportedly looking for a young actress to play a Ukrainian orphan who would travel with BJ and has a dog.

Every part of that needs to remain in the rumor category. Casting information can change, code names are deliberately vague, and the character could represent a small section of the game instead of the entire story. But if she is a major companion, Wolfenstein 3 may be taking a direction none of us expected. BJ may not simply be returning to win a war. He may be trying to save the generation that has to survive it.

Why a Companion Story Could Actually Fit BJ Blazkowicz's Arc

I think that makes a lot of sense given where his character was left off. The New Order introduced BJ as a man who only knew how to keep fighting. He wakes up 14 years later and discovers the regime won, most of the people he knew were gone, and the world moved on without him. By New Colossus, his body is literally falling apart, yet he keeps pushing forward because violence is the only language the regime understands.

Machine Games have treated him as more than an empty action hero. It turned him into a surprisingly complicated character dealing with childhood abuse, fear, and impending fatherhood. A young companion would force BJ to confront what all that fighting is actually supposed to protect.

The Last of Us Comparison and Why the Regime Setting Changes It

I know what everyone is going to say. An older warrior escorting a young child across a dangerous world immediately sounds like The Last of Us. We've seen that setup used in God of War, Plague Tale, and plenty of other games. If the girl becomes somebody who follows BJ everywhere, crawls through vents, and waits for him to move a dumpster so she can climb through a window, people are going to roast the escort missions.

But the world gives the relationship a different context here. This is an alternate history where the regime controls enormous parts of the world using stolen advanced technology. A Ukrainian orphan would not merely be a random kid who needs protection. Her story could expose what the regime has done outside the United States and give a reason to finally leave the environments we've already explored, since The New Order took us through Europe, the Atlantic, and the moon, while The New Colossus focused heavily on occupied America.

Wolfenstein 3 could become a global resistance story, showing uprisings spreading through countries that have been occupied for decades. The girl could be connected to one of those resistance groups, or could know something about a secret weapon. Her dog could even become part of the gameplay, helping track enemies, locate hidden routes, or distract guards. I know that could be tiresome, but it could be fun if they do it right.

Could Machine Games Bring Indiana Jones and the Great Circle's Design Lessons to Wolfenstein

Machine Games spent years developing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, a game that placed much more emphasis on exploration, environmental interaction, and stealth. Those lessons could carry over. I don't expect Wolfenstein to suddenly become a slow archaeological adventure, and it absolutely should not lose the ridiculous weapons or aggressive combat that makes these games fun.

But imagine combining Wolfenstein's dual wielding gunplay with the more open level design used in Indiana Jones. Instead of entering a level, clearing several rooms, and moving permanently into the next area, it could give us a larger resistance hub where we gather intel, choose who to attack, rescue prisoners, and have more control over the outcome. That structure would make a global uprising feel like something we were actually building.

Hitler's Death Has to Happen On-Screen This Time

The story also has one enormous piece of unfinished business: Adolf Hitler. The New Colossus let us meet an old, sick, and completely unhinged version of Hitler during the audition sequence. The game even lets BJ kick him in the face, although doing that gets you killed instantly. It was hilarious, disgusting, and intentionally unsatisfying because the story was saving Hitler's actual death for later. Youngblood tells us BJ eventually killed him, but it happened offscreen.

That cannot be how the trilogy ends. Machine Games has spent two main games building toward BJ reaching Hitler, and this one has to let us fight him ourselves. The original Wolfenstein 3D ended with a battle against Hitler wearing a heavily armored mechanical suit, and bringing Mecha Hitler back as the final boss is fan service, but sometimes the obvious decision is obvious because it works. Give us a deranged final mission beneath Berlin, let Hitler surround himself with every piece of advanced technology he can, and have BJ fight through the remains of the regime before facing a gigantic mechanical version of the man responsible for destroying his world. "There, I did it. That's your finale."

Youngblood's Doomsday Device Complicates the Ending

Youngblood created another complication. That game takes place roughly 20 years after The New Colossus and establishes that Hitler's death triggered a doomsday device that began destabilizing the planet's weather. BJ disappears while investigating a way to stop it, and his daughters eventually go searching for him.

That means this game probably cannot simply ignore Youngblood, even if a lot of players, myself included, would prefer that. I think the smartest option is to set the game during the missing years between The New Colossus and Youngblood, shortly after BJ and the Resistance ignite the second American Revolution, then follow the fight as it spreads into Europe. Maybe BJ encounters the girl during that campaign and eventually reaches Hitler and discovers the existence of the doomsday device. That would give the trilogy a real ending while still preserving the future Youngblood established, which I personally don't care about either way.

Whatever route it takes, this has to feel brutal, immediate, and personal. We enter a room, decide whether to eliminate the commanders quietly, and then everything falls apart into chaos. It's a Wolfenstein game, but after Indiana Jones I trust Machine Games more now than I did right after Youngblood. The Great Circle proved the studio could build a substantial single player adventure without chasing every industry trend. It respected the character and gave players room to explore. It was good.

When Could Wolfenstein 3 Actually Release

So the biggest question is when we can see this game. If the casting and performance capture information is correct, it's probably beyond the stage where developers are merely discussing ideas. Performance capture normally means character scenes and large sections of the script are being prepared for production, but it also means the game is probably still a ways away.

For a realistic release window, I'm saying 2028 or 2029. Xbox could announce it with a cinematic teaser this year, and I actually think they may do that, but I think we're still a ways away. The trilogy has had unfinished business for almost a decade, and Machine Games has publicly said it's a story they need to tell. It's probably at least two to three years away, but it's happening.

Should Wolfenstein 3 connect directly to Youngblood and explain what happened there, or should it pretend that game doesn't exist?