Earlier this week, it was reported that EA had undergone a new round of layoffs, resulting in the closure of developer Cliffhanger Games and the cancellation of the studio's Black Panther game. Despite recent strings of layoffs at the publisher, the news still came as a surprise, especially to those working at the studio.
A new report from Bloomberg sheds more light on the canceled project, with Jason Schreier claiming that employees of the studio were shocked by the game's cancellation. Cliffhanger had reportedly been actively hiring new employees, and the game had recently hit a new internal milestone.
Schreier's sources, however, also reveal that EA grew frustrated with the lack of progress being made on the game. According to the source, EA executives “were frustrated that the game had not yet left the pre-production phase after nearly four years in development.”
Development on the Black Panther game began in 2021, but it wasn't announced until 2023. Cliffhanger Games, which was founded with the intent of developing the game, had only recently started to increase its staff count with the report claiming that "many of the workers" had only been hired within the last year.
Not much had been revealed about the Black Panther game in the years since it was first announced, but Schreier's report offered some top-level details about it. Sources familiar with the project say that Cliffhanger was exploring a rivalry system similar to that of Monolith's Nemesis system used in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War.
The game would've seen various Marvel heroes from the universe competing against one another in a bid to become Black Panther. The report explains that the game "was to feature various playable heroes from the comic-book universe, such as T’Challa, Killmonger and Shuri, all competing for the mantle of Black Panther," and that the shapeshifting Skulls would've served as allies to the heroes. The idea was that some Skrulls would have posed as allies while others "might have remembered the player’s behavior and acted accordingly."
These ambitions may have ultimately proved to be Cliffhanger's downfall. Despite only ramping up hiring, EA viewed the progress as too slow.
EA has undergone multiple rounds of layoffs over the past couple of months in an effort to reshape the company. In an email sent to staff, EA Entertainment president Laura Miele had justified the cancellations and layoffs as a way to "sharpen our focus and put our creative energy behind the most significant growth opportunities."
EA is focusing the majority of its attention on a small handful of franchises, including Battlefield, The Sims, Skate, and Apex Legends. EA Motive's Iron Man game and the third installment in the Star Wars: Jedi franchise have not been affected.