EA’s long-rumored Black Panther game, being worked on by Cliffhanger Games, has been officially cancelled, first reported by IGN, leading to the tragic closure of the studio. The major breaking news officially announced by Electronic Arts is a dismal news report for players and the community in general, especially after a string of recent company layoffs.
Black Panther title was set to provide a new twist on the action of the superhero, purported to take place in contemporary Wakanda and featuring new gameplay features. There was no news on the new mechanics but the rumour of a new, single-player Marvel universe game from one of the big publishers created massive hype. Cliffhanger Games, a company set up solely to make this fantasy a reality, no longer exists, a sour reminder of the whimsical nature of game development.
This cancellation is part of a larger strategic shift at Electronic Arts. The company has articulated publicly that it is pleased to concentrate its resources onto “proven franchises” like the Battlefield franchise. This shift involves focusing on proven income streams and maybe more conservatively regarding new intellectual properties, particularly ones with high costs of development and insurable risk.
Despite this seeming change of heart, EA has asserted that it is still supporting other Marvel-based projects in development, including those based on characters like Iron Man. This implies that while the Black Panther game will not be getting a release, EA is not completely pulling out of the superhero genre but rather reassessing its lineup and making the difficult decisions as to which projects are best suited to achieving its business objectives over the next few years.
The shut down of Cliffhanger Games and the cancellation of the Black Panther project will certainly add fuel to controversy regarding the viability of ambitious and multicultural new projects within the AAA gaming space. It highlights the problem faced even by heavily financed studios when games do not deliver against internal strategic targets or financial forecasts, not only affecting the creative staff involved but also the ambitions of a worldwide player base.
