EA confirmed this week that it had canceled its upcoming Black Panther sport and closed its developer, Cliffhanger Video games. A brand new report supplies extra context and background as to the state of affairs surrounding the sport’s cancellation and what the sport was aiming to be.
Bloomberg reported that the Black Panther sport just lately handed a growth milestone, and the challenge was gaining momentum. Nonetheless, sources mentioned EA executives have been upset that the sport was nonetheless in pre-production after nearly 4 years of labor. After a portfolio evaluate from EA administration, the corporate reportedly selected to axe video games in growth for an prolonged time frame with out making ample progress, and this included Black Panther.
Additionally canceled on this course of have been a number of titles at Apex Legends and Titanfall studio Respawn, together with a brand new Titanfall sport, in line with earlier reporting.
EA’s Black Panther sport was going to construct on a few of the concepts that Cliffhanger boss Kevin Stephens had labored on with the Shadow of Mordor collection when he was at Warner Bros., together with the Nemesis system, the report mentioned. For the Black Panther sport, T’Challa, Killmonger, and Shuri could be playable characters, vying to change into the brand new Black Panther.
Gamers have been going to struggle towards the Skrull shapeshifting aliens, who had come to Wakanda. A few of these characters within the sport may be impostors, and would have remembered and realized from participant habits, just like how orcs in Shadow of Mordor would bear in mind gamers and act based mostly on earlier interactions.
Builders had a tough time showcasing what made the Black Panther sport particular in shows with administration, and processes have been slowed as a result of staff constructing a sport and a brand new studio on the similar time, the report mentioned.
Following the sport’s cancellation, staffers who labored on the challenge spoke out to reward the work the staff did on what they hoped could be an “superb” sport. Whereas the Black Panther sport is now not shifting forward, EA continues to be constructing an Iron Man sport and a number of Marvel initiatives as a part of a multi-game cope with Marvel.
EA’s Black Panther sport is useless, however Amy Hennig’s Marvel sport, Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, options Black Panther prominently. The sport was delayed and is now coming in 2026.