EA says goodbye to Wakanda as it pulls the plug on its Black Panther game
In 2023, EA announced it had entered into a long-term partnership with Marvel Entertainment to develop at least three action adventure games for consoles and PC. Two of the games announced were third-person single player Iron Man and Black Panther games. Today, EA has announced it is cancelling the Black Panther game as well as shutting down the studio it formed to handle the development.
The Black Panther game was being developed by Cliffhanger Games, a Seattle-based game studio that was established solely to develop the game. The studio was headed by Kevin Stephens, a former executive at Monolith which Warner Bros shut down earlier this year. It also had veterans that had worked on projects such as Halo Infinite, Call of Duty, and God of War.
The news of the cancellation was first reported by IGN who cited an internal memo sent by EA Entertainment president, Laura Miele, to members of staff. In the email, Miele said the company will assist affected staff in finding new roles within EA. The email also said EA plans to focus its resources on titles such as Battlefield, The Sims, Skate, and Apex Legends.
The Black Panther game was announced in celebration of the 57th anniversary of the character's comic debut. According to the press release announcing the game, players would have “more agency and control over their narrative than they have ever experienced in a story-driven game.”
Despite the cancellation of the Black Panther game, the partnership between EA and Marvel Entertainment will continue and future Marvel titles will be led by Motive Studios, the developer of the Iron Man game. There's no new info about the Iron Man game but it seems to still be in development.
For those who were anticipating taking control of Black Panther, they will have to wait for the recently postponed Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra which will feature Azzuri, T'Challa's grandfather as Black Panther. You can also play as T'Challa in the Marvel's Avengers video game (available on Amazon for $27.33) released in 2020.
