Wolfenstein 3 Is Officially in Production, and B.J. Blazkowicz Is Back for the Final Chapter

Featured image: Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus official screenshot. Source: Bethesda Softworks / MachineGames, Wolfenstein II official Steam page

It took nine years, a pile of job listings, a leaked casting call and one very patient fanbase, but it is finally official. Wolfenstein 3 is in production at MachineGames. The Swedish studio confirmed it during Xbox’s 25th anniversary Fanfest in Seattle, and B.J. Blazkowicz himself, or at least the man who plays him, is already back in the motion capture suit.

There is no trailer, no release date and no platform list yet. What we do have is a page of script, a photo from the mocap stage and a studio head who has been saying for over a year that this story was always meant to be a trilogy. Here is everything that was actually confirmed, what the script tease seems to hint at, and why the timing says a lot about where Xbox is right now.

How Wolfenstein 3 was announced

The news landed in two steps. First, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma posted on X during the Fanfest celebrations: “Wolfenstein 3 is officially in production at MachineGames. One of gaming’s most important franchises, and a team that has done remarkable work bringing it forward. Looking forward to sharing more.”

MachineGames followed up with a post of its own and a line that fans will recognize immediately: “His reputation precedes him. Wolfenstein 3 is in production.” Alongside it, the studio shared a page from the actual script and a behind the scenes photo of Brian Bloom and Debra Wilson in the studio’s motion capture space.

That photo matters more than it might seem. Bloom has voiced and performed B.J. since The New Order in 2014, and Wilson’s Grace Walker was one of the breakout characters of The New Colossus. Seeing both of them on a mocap stage means this is not a pitch deck or a concept in early preproduction. Scenes are being shot.

What the script tease actually shows

The script page is short, but MachineGames clearly picked it on purpose. It is labeled “Chapter 01 – Nazitraz” and opens in an interrogation cell. A table clock shows a couple of minutes before midnight. B.J. leans in close to a man named Otto, says a single word (“Hi”), and Otto immediately panics in German, horrified that it is him of all people. Then a character named Fergus moves in.

A few things jump out. “Nazitraz” reads like a play on Alcatraz, which suggests the opening chapter takes place in some kind of Nazi prison, very much in the spirit of the prison break that opened The New Order’s second half. The clock at two minutes to midnight is about as unsubtle as a countdown gets. And then there is Fergus.

Longtime fans will remember that The New Order forced you to choose between saving Fergus Reid or Probst Wyatt III early in the game, and the choice split the story into two timelines. The New Colossus later let you pick which version of events was canon. Fergus showing up on page one of Wolfenstein 3 could mean MachineGames is leaning on the Fergus timeline, or it could simply mean the scene changes depending on your old save. It is far too early to say, but it is the kind of detail the studio does not drop by accident.

The long road from The New Colossus to Wolfenstein 3

The New Colossus came out in October 2017 and ended with B.J. leading an open revolution against the Nazi regime in America. Everyone assumed a direct sequel was next. Instead, MachineGames moved on to smaller spinoffs, then to an entirely different franchise.

Youngblood is the awkward one in that list. Set in 1980 Paris, nearly two decades after The New Colossus, it swapped B.J. for his daughters Jess and Soph and leaned hard into co-op and looter shooter systems. The reception was lukewarm at best, and it is still an open question whether Wolfenstein 3 picks up straight after The New Colossus, fills the gap between the two games, or quietly sidelines Youngblood altogether. The studio that helped make it is having a rough year of its own, too. Arkane Lyon is the team that reportedly has weeks to find a buyer before closing.

“We have a story to tell”

None of this comes completely out of nowhere. In a Noclip documentary about the making of The New Order and The New Colossus, MachineGames studio head Jerk Gustafsson said the team had always seen B.J.’s story as a trilogy. “I think that’s important to say, because, at least, I hope, we’re not done with Wolfenstein yet. We have a story to tell.”

The rumor mill picked up speed after that. Windows Central’s Jez Corden reported that MachineGames was juggling more than one project, with Wolfenstein 3 the most likely candidate, and in February 2026 a casting report surfaced for a project codenamed Valkyrie. There were also reports of a separate multiplayer shooter in the style of Rainbow Six Siege, which remains completely unannounced. On top of that, Amazon is reportedly developing a Wolfenstein TV series with the producers behind its Fallout adaptation, and given how much that show did for Fallout game sales, a sequel arriving somewhere near the series would make plenty of business sense.

Why MachineGames earned this one

If you want to know why Xbox put Wolfenstein 3 at the center of its birthday party, look at Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. MachineGames took a licensed property that had been stuck in development limbo for years and turned it into one of the best reviewed games of 2024, with Metacritic scores of 86 on console and 87 on PC. Microsoft said it passed four million players in less than two months, a number that includes Game Pass but still made it one of Xbox’s clear wins of that year. It later came to PS5 as well.

The Great Circle proved the studio can handle a big narrative game, mix stealth, exploration and first person action, and ship it in good shape. That is exactly the skill set Wolfenstein 3 needs. It also bought the team the goodwill to go back to the series that made its name.

The rest of Xbox’s 25th anniversary news

Wolfenstein 3 was the headline, but it was not the only thing Xbox shared at Fanfest. The celebration lined up with the original console’s launch on November 15, 2001, and came a day after Microsoft dropped 21 original Xbox games on PC through backward compatibility.

• id Software’s next game: Xbox confirmed that id is already working on its next project, again led by Hugo Martin. Slaughter Mode is also coming to DOOM: The Dark Ages as part of its Revelations content.
• Halo: Campaign Evolved Firefight: A free four player PvE co-op mode, playable by Fanfest attendees, launches this winter. More details are due at Halo Fest in Seattle on December 12 and 13.
• Fable: Playground showed a new quest gameplay clip. The reboot is still dated for February 23, 2027 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

There is an uncomfortable backdrop here. Both id Software and Halo Studios were hit hard by the latest round of Xbox layoffs, and Halo’s next mainline game has been handed to Activision with a brand new team. Hardware revenue keeps sliding too, as our look at the latest Xbox earnings showed. In that context, confirming Wolfenstein 3 is as much a reassurance as an announcement: proof that Microsoft is still investing in single player games from the studios that make them best.

What we still do not know

Platforms are the most interesting question. Microsoft has brought nearly all of its recent first party games to PlayStation, The Great Circle included, so a PS5 version feels likely. Some reports have even floated a Switch 2 version. As for timing, a game that is only now shooting performance capture is almost certainly not a 2027 release, and a 2028 window or later seems more realistic, though that is our estimate rather than anything Xbox has said.

For now, the most important part is the simplest. After nine years and a couple of detours, MachineGames is finishing the story it started in 2014, with the same actors and, judging by that script page, the same sense of humor. B.J. is back, and somewhere in a prison called Nazitraz, Otto is having a very bad day.

Sources: PC Gamer, Wccftech, GameSpot, Gamereactor, VGC, LevelUp.

About this article: GeekBlog covers U.S. technology news, AI, phones, smartwatches and gaming. Every story is written and checked under our Editorial Policy. Spotted a mistake or have a story tip? Contact our editors.