EA Reportedly Cancels Black Panther Game, Shutters Cliffhanger Studio
According to a report from IGN, news of the Black Panther game's cancellation came on Wednesday. Along with canceling the game and closing the studio, EA laid off additional workers from various teams, but there were no specifics on the number of people affected.
An email from EA Entertainment President Laura Miele laid out these changes along with details about layoffs, saying they were to "sharpen our focus and put our creative energy behind the most significant growth opportunities," according to IGN.
"These decisions are hard," Miele wrote in an email, according to IGN. "They affect people we've worked with, learned from and shared real moments with. We're doing everything we can to support them, including finding opportunities within EA, where we've had success helping people land in new roles."
EA didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the game's cancellation.
EA formed Cliffhanger Games to develop the open-world single-player Black Panther game. Heading the studio was Kevin Stephens, a former VP of Monolith Productions, which made the Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-earth: Shadow of War games. Few other details about the game were known other than that it was supposed to take place in Wakanda, the fictional home of Black Panther.
This Black Panther game is different than the Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra game that was announced back in 2022. That game was expected to feature Captain America and Azzuri, T'Challa's grandfather, who was the Black Panther during World War II. Marvel 1943 is being published by Skydance New Media, partnered and Plaion, and was initially planned to come out this year, but Skydance announced earlier in the month that the game is being pushed back to early 2026.
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