Two years ago, EA announced a game based on Marvel hero Black Panther from new developer Cliffhanger Games. Now, that project has been canceled.
Per IGN, EA Entertainment president Laura Miele sent out an email confirming the game was scrapped and Cliffhanger is closing. At time of writing, it’s unclear how many employees are affected, as the publisher is trying to move staff onto other projects where possible. The cuts, per Miele, were done to “sharpen our focus and put our creative energy behind the most significant growth opportunities.”
“These decisions are hard. They affect people we’ve worked with, learned from, and shared real moments with,” she continued. “We’re doing everything we can to support them—including finding opportunities within EA, where we’ve had success helping people land in new roles.”
In late February 2024, EA CEO Andrew Wilson said the publisher would “move away from development of future licensed IP that we do not believe will be successful in our changing industry.” This directive doesn’t appear to affect its two known Star Wars games, Bit Reactor’s Zero Company due in 2026, and the third Jedi title in development at Respawn Entertainment.
Details on the Black Panther game have been nonexistent since the project’s reveal, though a job listing from 2024 indicated it would be a single-player, open-world game. This was also the second of a three-part game collaboration between EA and Marvel: one based on Iron Man from developed by Dead Space studio Motive, and a third, currently unannounced game. At time of writing, both of those are thought to still be in development.
Marvel has currently not provided a comment on the game’s cancellation.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
