Electronic Arts has undergone another round of layoffs, shuttering one of its studios and canceling another highly anticipated project. IGN reports that EA's upcoming Black Panther game has been scrapped as Cliffhanger Games, the studio developing it, has been shuttered.
The untitled Black Panther game was first announced back in 2023. Not much has been shared about the game in the years since, though it was billed as an open-world, third-person, single-player action-adventure set in Wakanda.
The game was being developed at Cliffhanger Games, a newly formed triple-A development studio based in Seattle, made up of industry veterans who had worked on some of the world's biggest game franchises. Former Monolith Productions studio head Kevin Stevens, who oversaw the development of the Middle-earth games, was directing the Black Panther game alongside veterans with experience on franchises like Halo, God of War, and Call of Duty.
Despite knowing little about the game, there was a ton of anticipation surrounding it simply for the fact that it featured one of Marvel's most popular superheroes.
While EA has not issued a direct statement to the media, an internal email sent to staff had explained that the recent cancellations and layoffs are being done to "sharpen our focus and put our creative energy behind the most significant growth opportunities."
EA has undergone multiple rounds of layoffs over the past couple of months, impacting all areas of the company and affecting hundreds of former employees.
"These decisions are hard," Miele wrote. "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."
Just last month, EA had laid off approximately 300 to 400 employees, including around 100 at Respawn Entertainment, the studio best known for Titanfall and Apex Legends. This also resulted in the cancellation of a new Titanfall game, which was in early development.
These layoffs are part of a company-wide restructuring that was first announced last year. At the time, EA CEO Andrew Wilson had acknowledged that approximately 5 percent of the company's workforce would be impacted.
"We are also sunsetting games and moving away from development of future licensed IP that we do not believe will be successful in our changing industry," Wilson said last year. "This greater focus allows us to drive creativity, accelerate innovation, and double down on our biggest opportunities — including our owned IP, sports, and massive online communities — to deliver the entertainment players want today and tomorrow."
The cancellation of this Black Panther game, along with other unannounced projects, will now allow EA to focus on its core franchises, including Battlefield, The Sims, Skate, and Apex Legends. Other ongoing projects like EA Motive's Iron Man and the next entries in the Star Wars: Jedi and Mass Effect series don't appear to be impacted.
EA wasn't the only publisher with a Black Panther-focused game in the works. Skydance New Media is working in collaboration with Marvel Games Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, a narrative-driven action-adventure game featuring Steve Rogers (Captain America) and Azzuri (Black Panther) as they team up to prevent the rise of Hydra in German-occupied France during World War II.