Digital Arts has confirmed it is cancelling its upcoming Black Panther recreation and shutting its developer. Cliffhanger Video games, which was solely opened in 2023 to make the Black Panther recreation, is now shuttered. EA beforehand signed a cope with Marvel for a number of video games, and an Iron Man title continues to be coming.
EA boss Laura Miele mentioned in a memo obtained by IGN that the corporate is cancelling the sport and shutting the studio to “sharpen our focus and put our inventive vitality behind essentially the most important development alternatives.”
Moreover, EA is shedding workers on its cell and “central” groups, although the precise variety of affected workers is unknown. This follows on from a earlier spherical of layoffs in April that affected round 300 individuals and led to the reported cancellation of a Titanfall recreation.
“These choices are laborious,” Miele mentioned in a memo to workers. “They have an effect on individuals we have labored with, discovered from, and shared actual moments with. We’re doing every little thing we will to assist them– together with discovering alternatives inside EA, the place we have had success serving to individuals land in new roles.”
In 2024, EA laid off almost 700 individuals and mentioned it wasn’t certain how way more it could spend money on licensed IP going ahead. As a consequence of this commentary, some puzzled if any of EA’s Marvel initiatives can be affected. EA beforehand signed a multi-game cope with Marvel, and now, the one confirmed mission from that partnership is a brand new Iron Man recreation from Motive Studio. When the deal was introduced, EA mentioned it coated at least three games.
Cliffhanger was led by Kevin Stephens, who oversaw the manufacturing of Center-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Center-earth: Shadow of Warfare at Monolith Productions. He joined EA in 2021. Different members of the workforce at Cliffhanger labored on Halo, God of Warfare, and Name of Responsibility.
It’s unknown how far alongside in growth the Black Panther recreation was. When the sport and the studio had been introduced in 2023, EA mentioned the sport was “nonetheless in early growth with a protracted highway forward.” EA and Cliffhanger had been making an attempt to make what they mentioned was a “definitive and genuine Black Panther expertise.”
Outdoors of EA’s superhero video games, Warner Bros. was making a Marvel Girl recreation based mostly on the enduring DC character, however that recreation was additionally canceled.
Going ahead, Miele mentioned that EA would deal with Battlefield, The Sims, Skate, and Apex Legends, whereas growth will proceed on Iron Man and the following Star Wars: Jedi recreation. EA’s cell recreation initiatives stay intact, whereas BioWare continues to make the following Mass Impact as nicely. And after all, EA’s sports activities catalog will proceed as nicely, together with EA Sports activities FC, Madden, School Soccer, and NHL.
Regardless of all of EA’s current layoffs and closures, the corporate’s headcount continues to develop. As of March 2025, EA had more than 800 additional people on staff than it did the identical time a 12 months prior.
EA is making these dramatic cuts and closures as the corporate rakes in cash. For the final three months alone, EA pulled in $1.9 billion in revenue and made a profit of $254 million. For the most recent fiscal 12 months, nevertheless, EA’s income slid from $7.562 billion to $7.463 billion, with internet revenue falling from $1.273 billion to $1.121 billion.