Wolfenstein 3 is officially in production at MachineGames, ending years of speculation about the next entry in the first-person shooter series. Xbox confirmed the game during its 25th anniversary FanFest celebration in Seattle, with Xbox chief executive Asha Sharma announcing: "Wolfenstein 3 is officially in production at MachineGames."

MachineGames confirmed the news itself moments later, posting: "His reputation precedes him. Wolfenstein 3 is in production." The announcement came with a photograph of a script page for Chapter 01, titled "Nazitraz", showing an interrogation-cell scene in which series hero BJ Blazkowicz leans in close to a character named Otto. No trailer, gameplay, release date or platform list was shared.

Returning cast confirmed

Xbox also confirmed that actors Brian Bloom and Debra Wilson will reprise their roles as BJ Blazkowicz and resistance leader Grace Walker. MachineGames shared a behind-the-scenes image of Bloom recording a scene with Wilson, confirming both will return for the new entry. Sharma described the series as "a franchise with an important place in gaming history", adding: "I'm excited to see the team continue its story."

The casting news matters because the modern Wolfenstein games are built around Blazkowicz's story. Video Games Chronicle notes that the script page confirms Blazkowicz's return, with the first chapter placing him back in an interrogation cell, a setting long associated with the character.

A trilogy nine years in the making

Wolfenstein 3 will be the first mainline entry in the series since Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus in 2017. MachineGames took over the franchise with Wolfenstein: The New Order in 2014, followed by the standalone prequel The Old Blood in 2015 and The New Colossus two years later. The only releases since have been the 2019 spin-off Wolfenstein: Youngblood and a virtual-reality spin-off the same year, while the studio turned its attention to Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

The studio has long signalled that a third game was the plan. Studio director Jerk Gustafsson said in an interview last year that the team had always seen the series as a trilogy, mapped out from the earliest days of The New Order, and that it had a story still to tell. The confirmation in Seattle turns that long-standing intention into an official project for the first time.

What we still do not know

Almost everything else about the game remains unannounced. Neither Xbox nor MachineGames has given a release window, confirmed which platforms it will appear on, or shown any gameplay. It is also unclear whether the story will follow on directly from Youngblood, which was set nearly two decades after The New Colossus, or return to the period immediately after the second game.

That restraint is in keeping with how the announcement was made: a single confirmation, a script page and a cast photo, with no further detail. With performance capture reportedly running into 2027, according to industry reporting, a playable reveal this year looks unlikely.

Part of Xbox's 25th anniversary

The announcement was one of several reveals at the closing event of Xbox's eight-city FanFest tour, held in Seattle ahead of the 25th anniversary of the first Xbox, which launched in 2001. The same event brought a Firefight mode for Halo: Campaign Evolved, new Fable quest gameplay, 25 original Xbox games coming to PC with achievements, and confirmation that id Software's next project is now in development.

For Wolfenstein fans, though, the headline was simple. After nine years, the trilogy's final chapter is no longer a rumour: it is in production.