Why was Marvel's Black Panther game cancelled by EA?
Wakanda not forever, according to EA.
It’s been a rough few years in the gaming industry, with lay-offs and closures galore, and unfortunately, this trend seems set to continue with another high-profile game and studio being shuttered, but why was Marvel’s Black Panther game cancelled by EA?
First reported on by IGN, staff members of Cliffhanger Games, the studio developing the Black Panther game, received an email, seen by IGN, announcing the closure from Laura Miele, the EA Entertainment president.
In the email, Miele is reported to have said that the cancellation of Black Panther (as well as other titles such as the in-development Titanfall game) was due to EA wanting to "sharpen our focus and put our creative energy behind the most significant growth opportunities".
These "significant growth opportunities" being the many EA Sports franchises, The Sims, Battlefield, Apex Legends and the upcoming Skate reboot.
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In 2024, CEO Andrew Wilson announced that EA would be "moving away from development of future licensed IP that we do not believe will be successful in our changing industry".
Marvel’s Black Panther very much fits the bill here, so perhaps it isn’t a surprise to see its cancellation come to pass, but being so far into 2025 could suggest an internal review took place to gauge how the project was developing.
It is also common practice for companies to wait until the new tax year before cancelling a project, as tax write-offs reduce taxable income, but there is nothing to suggest that this is what EA has done.
The people working at Cliffhanger Games, founded by Kevin Stephens, who used to head Monolith Productions responsible for Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, are said to be moved to different projects across the company, as opposed to being laid off entirely, according to IGN.
As games continue to get more expensive to develop, the number of closures is no doubt set to continue. This can range from projects such as Black Panther that are yet to see the light of day, all the way to the likes of Concord, whose walk-back was unprecedented in the gaming world.
While Black Panther is no longer happening, there are still a good handful of superhero games in development.
EA has said it is still committed to the Iron Man game from Motive, there is the now-delayed Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, Marvel Blade from Arkane and Insomniac's Marvel's Wolverine.
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Authors
Cole Luke is a freelance journalist and video producer who contributes to RadioTimes.com's Gaming section. He also has bylines for Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, Network N and more.
