August 18, 2022

Will there be a Wolfenstein 3? In 2018 when asked about the possibility of a third outing for the first-person shooter, Bethesda’s Pete Hines was unequivocal in saying there “Absolutely” would be a sequel to Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus.

Some corners had worried that ‘slow’ sales for MachineGames second outing might have hampered progress on a third game to feature BJ Blazkowicz. It’s now five years since New Colossus launched and we’re no closer to that elusive third game. In actuality, it’s more likely that Wolfenstein 3 has been put on the back burner whilst MachineGames work on their new Indiana Jones Game.

For now though, read on for everything we know about Wolfenstein 3, including when it might arrive, when it will be set and whether it could include the long-awaited Mecha Hitler.

18 Aug Update - Checked for the latest Wolfenstein 3 news. All the most recent updates are found just below.

Latest News

Release Date

As we’ve alluded to, it’s been just over 5 years since MachineGames released The New Colossus and just over 3 years since Bethesda confirmed they fully intended to make Wolfenstein 3. As we’ve noted though, the developer is also making a new Indiana Jones Game.

So it’s hard to say which title is being developed first, or indeed how much progress the developer has made on Wolfenstein 3. We imagine that the developer might be aiming to release Indiana Jones in 2023 in line with the new movie coming out the same year.

This either means that Wolfenstein 3 is set for a surprise 2022 launch, or potentially in the years after 2023.

Wolfenstein 3 Story

Bethesda’s Pete Hines has previously confirmed that Youngblood is not the third outing for MachineGames proposed Wolfenstein trilogy. Instead, it is described as a side story, which “moves ahead in the timeline”.

Will Wolfenstein 3 be set after Youngblood? That’s less clear since Wolfenstein 3 could quite easily take place after the events of New Colossus but before the events of Youngblood. We will, unfortunately, have to wait for more info to work out where Wolfenstein 3 takes place in the timeline.

Will Mecha Hitler Be In Wolfenstein 3?

It’s possible, although, an explanation of why is slightly convoluted. We’ll explain in more detail just below, so buckle in.

During Wolfenstein Youngblood you play as BJ’s twin daughters as they hunt for their missing father, but during an early cutscene it’s explained that Hitler is dead, killed at the hands of BJ Blazcowikz.  When asked about the decision to kill Hitler off-screen, Jack Gustafsson told VG247 that it was done in service of the series wider lore.

“We are actually pretty strict when it comes to following the lore and the storyline, and so obviously some of these things that we haven’t really told in the main storyline, say, from New Order and New Colossus, those things have still happened,” Gustafsson explained.  “So we need to touch on them to some extent. We’re actually explaining some of what has happened during these years, but we are still staying very true to the storyline. And I know it might sound a bit weird or even controversial that we’re actually mentioning that in the game as well, that your father was killing Hitler, but that already happened in Wolfenstein 3D as well.”

Several MachineGames employees have previously stated that part of the issue with Mecha Hitler is that “once you start involving Mecha Hitler, there is nowhere to go from there”. Which makes sense. As ridiculous as it sounds, when it comes to bad guys, how can you top ‘Mecha Hitler’.

MachineGames have also previously suggested that they ‘always envisioned [Wolfenstein] as a trilogy’ so it’s plausible that Mecha Hitler could be saved for this third and final outing for MachineGames reboot series. And for anyone asking ‘how’ if he’s already dead, we’ve no doubt that some ridiculous explanation will be used to ensure it makes sense.

“Some time in the future – it wouldn’t surprise me if he comes back,” Gustafsson told VG247,