EA has cancelled the Black Panther video game and is closing down the studio responsible for the project, Cliffhanger Games. A report from IGN claims that EA dropped a bomb on the staff yesterday with the unexpected news that the project was being cancelled.
It is claimed that the company is laying off the majority of the staff who worked at the studio; however, many of them might be shifted into roles at other EA divisions if there are opportunities available. At the same time, the report says that EA is also laying off additional staff outside of Cliffhanger Games. So “shifting staff to other EA divisions” doesn’t sound promising given the other layoffs.
EA has also recently let go of about 300-400 staff across various businesses, including 100 staff members at Respawn Entertainment.
As for the Black Panther video game, well, that is now dead in the water. The project was announced back in 2023 without much information. It was being developed by Halo, God of War, and Call of Duty veterans in collaboration with Marvel.
The studio responsible for the now-cancelled project was formed in 2021 by Kevin Stephens, who was in charge of Monolith Studios at WB Games during the development of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-earth: Shadow of War.
Very little was known about the game. Last year, Stephens shared a development update on Black Panther, saying the game was still in very early development with a “long road ahead”. He claimed the game had a foundation for any great story, and the studio staff in charge of the project came from experienced backgrounds with diverse voices and perspectives.
Unfortunately, no gameplay or even a CG trailer came out of the Black Panther game. So we’ll never know what direction Cliffhanger Games was going in. The news arrives just a few weeks after the “other” Marvel game in development, Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, was delayed to 2026. This being after the game has yet to be shown in any way, shape, or form outside of a CG trailer.
Source: IGN
