EA continues the wave of liquidations — this time, Black Panther and its Cliffhanger Games studio fell into the company’s hands. Therefore, we can only look at the leaked concept art.
In an internal letter, EA Entertainment President Laurie Mielé says that these steps are part of a broader strategy to focus on key areas. The company is abandoning a number of projects to focus on better opportunities. For example, EA plans to focus on Battlefield, The Sims, Skate and Apex Legends. Motive’s Iron Man and the third installment of Star Wars: Jedi remain in the works. Bioware Mass Effect is not going anywhere either as well as the mobile business.
But Black Panther was the licensed IP that the company was not sure about. Almost nothing was known about the game since its announcement in 2023. It was expected to be a single-player open-world adventure game from the developers of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, but this will not happen.
EA has canceled their #BlackPanther game
The developer Cliffhanger Games has also been shut down
(via @IGN) pic.twitter.com/71XakfhbEX
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) May 28, 2025
Along with the news of the project’s closure, the following possible concept art They were published by a video editor who worked on the game’s polls. The artwork features Wakanda locations inspired by the movies. One of the shots shows a ritual duel between T’Challa and his son Azari, which interrupts the attack of the Skrull ship that kidnaps T’Challa. According to unconfirmed information, Azari was supposed to be one of several playable characters.
According to the president, despite the canceled game, the deal with Marvel is not going away. It included three games: Iron Man, the canceled Black Panther, and another unnamed project. According to EA’s statement, «our partnership with Marvel remains strong and our multifaceted long-term collaboration continues».
But the news doesn’t end with the game’s cancellation and Cliffhanger’s closure. EA is also laying off some staff in its mobile and central divisions. Although the company did not name the exact number of those laid off, IGN’s sources say that this time it is less than 300 people. This is the number of people who were laid off last month at Respawn and EA Fan Care. EA is trying to transfer some specialists to other projects within the company, as it did in previous times. At the same time, according to Game File, as of March 2025, EA has even increased the total number of employees by 800 people compared to the same period in 2024.
In recent years, EA has regularly organized waves of layoffs. In March 2025, it laid off about 400 people, including 100 in Respawn, canceled the game Titanfall and another incubation project. Previously BioWare was restructured, some developers were transferred, some were fired. In 2024, 670 people left, in 2023 — 50 from BioWare and another part from Codemasters. In general, the company has been undergoing a complex internal restructuring in recent years.
Another alarming signal for employees is the mandatory return to the offices. This decision has already caused concern among those who have been working remotely: people are worried about how it will affect their positions. EA does not comment on the number of new layoffs, the reasons for this particular round, or the possibility of further layoffs.
Source: IGN
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