EA cancels development of Black Panther game

Electronic Arts is officially shutting down studio Cliffhanger Games and canceling the game it was developing based on the Marvel universe, Black Panther. The project was unveiled in the summer of 2023 as part of EA’s ambitious initiative to create games under the Marvel license, but IGN reports that the publisher is reassessing its priorities.

Farewell, Wakanda

Black Panther was conceived as a story-driven, third-person action-adventure game. It was the debut project of Cliffhanger Games, a studio specifically created to work on this title. Less than a year after its announcement, development ceased and the studio was shut down.

While the exact number of layoffs isn’t specified, IGN’s sources note that the wave of layoffs this time around affected fewer employees than Respawn’s affected studio in the spring. However, EA is also eliminating positions outside of Cliffhanger – in the mobile division and central teams.

And EA is also eliminating positions outside of Cliffhanger – in the mobile division and central teams.

Focus on profitable franchises

Internal sources say the cuts are part of a strategy to “focus on the most promising growth areas.” At the moment, these include:

• Iron Man game by EA Motive;
• the next installment of Star Wars Jedi by Respawn;
• new releases of The Sims, Battlefield, Skate and Apex Legends;
• EA Sports and the next installment of Mass Effect (though BioWare has gone through several waves of layoffs since 2023).

Some Cliffhanger employees EA is allegedly offering to move to other studios within the company, similar to what happened when BioWare restructured.

Leaving licenses is a conscious move

The abandonment of Black Panther didn’t come as a complete surprise. Back in February 2024, EA CEO Andrew Wilson explicitly stated that the company was “moving away from developing licensed IPs that we do not believe will be successful in a changing industry environment.”

And EA’s CEO Andrew Wilson said that the company was “moving away from developing licensed IPs that we believe will not be successful in a changing industry.

E EA did recently announce Star Wars: Zero Company, a Star Wars strategy game, but that appears to be more of an exception to the new rule.

At the same time, EA still announced Star Wars: Zero Company, a Star Wars strategy game, but it appears to be more of an exception to the new rule.

Why did a billion-dollar project get canceled?

The Black Panther movies have grossed over $1.3 billion at the global box office, and the character himself remains one of the most recognizable in the MCU. It’s all the more odd that EA decided to abandon the project so quickly, instead of trying to capitalize on the character’s popularity in the gaming market.

In the meantime, Amy Hennig’s Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra hasn’t been officially canceled yet, and we can only hope that Marvel fans will still see new single-player projects from major publishers.

The EA cancels Black Panther game development was first published on ITZine.ru.