Yesterday, EA announced it would be shutting down Cliffhanger Games and canceling the studio’s project, Black Panther. But both EA and Marvel are adamant that this changes nothing for the partnership between the two companies, which will still be developing at least three games together, beginning with Iron Man.
Back in 2023, Marvel and EA signed a deal for three games, one of which was the in-progress Iron Man game being developed at Motive Studio, with a second being Cliffhanger’s Black Panther. The third game has yet to be revealed. The cancelation of Black Panther prompted questions as to the status of this collaboration, but both EA and Marvel have since provided statements to IGN asserting that the three-game deal is still in place, with Motive Studio taking the lead.
“Our partnership with Marvel remains strong and our multi-title, long-term collaboration continues,” reads a statement sent to IGN by EA attributed to EA Entertainment president Laura Miele. A Marvel spokesperson also sent the following statement:
“The multi-title, long-term relationship between Marvel Games and EA, a creative collaboration focused on original storytelling with various, beloved Marvel characters, remains strong. Development of our console and PC titles, beginning with Marvel’s Iron Man, is led by Motive Studios.”
When asked if this meant there were still at least three games total in the works, the Marvel spokesperson confirmed this was the case.
This collaboration is continuing in spite of EA president Andrew Wilson’s expressed desire for the company to move “away from development of future licensed IP that we do not believe will be successful in our changing industry,” suggesting that the publisher still believes Marvel IP games can be successful. A number of Marvel games remain in development industry-wide, including Skydance’s Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, Insomniac’s Wolverine, and Arkane Lyon’s Blade.
Black Panther is the third known game EA has canceled this year, following the shuttering of two incubation projects. The company has cut hundreds of jobs both this year and last, while simultaneously increasing its overall headcount as it staffs up on other teams working on games such as Battlefield. It also implemented a mandatory return to office mandate earlier this year.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected].
