In a document about its financials for the previous year, Arkane Studios in its revenue section that “game development activities exclusively for ZeniMax/Microsoft group are ongoing,” according to a translation of the text via Google. “The production phase of the AAA project was launched at the end of 2024, following prototype validation.”

While the project hasn’t been outright named in the document, the timing, as well as the fact that Arkane Studios has been working on Marvel’s Blade for some time now with no other announced game, would indicate that development has been slow. The fact that the game had just entered its main production phase at the end of 2024 would also indicate that the game might still be on track for the rumoured 2027 launch window.

It is also likely that the internal expectations of the launch window for Marvel’s Blade might have changed, however, since the rumoured 2027 projected launch came from all the way back in 2023. “Right now, internally, they are expecting that to be sold on store shelves and digitally in 2027,” said GiantBomb’s Jeff Grub at the time. “That is the year that they are aiming for that game.”

The timeline for the game’s development also likely saw quite a few changes when one of the studios under the Arkane banner – Arkane Austin – was shuttered early last year. After it had happened, Marvel’s Blade and Deathloop director Dinga Bikaba had spoken out about Microsoft’s decision to close the studio along with others like Tango Gameworks.

“This is absolutely terrible,” said Bikaba at the time. “Permission to be human: to any executive reading this, a friendly reminder that video games are an entertainment/cultural industry, and your business as a corporation is to take care of your artists/entertainers and help them create value for you.”

“Don’t throw us into gold fever gambits, don’t use us as strawmen for miscalculations/blind spots, don’t make our work environments Darwinist jungles. You say we make you proud when we make a good game. Make us proud when times are tough. We know you can, we saw it before. For now, great teams are sunsetting before our eyes again, and it’s a f*****g gut stab.”

Marvel’s Blade was officially announced back in December 2023 with a trailer. The game is slated to be a a single-player action-adventure title with mature themes and, considering the superhero it involves, likely quite a bit of violence. In a departure for Arkane Studios, the game will also make use of a third-person camera angle, compared to the first-person titles usually worked on by the studio.

The team behind Marvel’s Blade – Arkane Lyon – has previously worked on titles like Deathloop and Dishonored 2.

Branding it an “unsustainable model that has been increasingly damaging the industry for a decade, subsidized by Microsoft’s ‘infinite money’,” Colantonio believes that at some point “reality has to hit.” “I don’t think Game Pass can co-exist with other models, they’ll either kill everyone else or give up.”

Responding to Michael Douse, director of publishing on Baldur’s Gate 3, who said the “infinite money thing never made any sense,” Colantonio said, “I agree, and I’m fed up with all the BS they fed us at first like ‘Don’t worry, it doesn’t impact the sales’, only to admit years later that it totally does. ‘No s*** it does! Really?'”

Douse did highlight how it could help provide recognition for “smaller teams with new or riskier IPs,” but preferred Sony’s “lifecycle management strategy.” Colantonio responded, “The only way Game Pass can co-exist without hurting everyone is for the back catalogue.”

While Game Pass started with much fanfare, its subscription numbers have slowed over the years. Despite this, PC Game Pass subscriptions still grew by over 30 percent in the second quarter of fiscal year 2025. Furthermore, developers like Rebellion have noted the service’s role in making its new title Atomfall a success. Pocketpair even highlighted how it’s “very worth” having your title on Game Pass after the success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Of course, whether the shoe will drop and developers aren’t offered as lucrative deals to bring their titles to Game Pass remains to be seen. For the time being, Microsoft shows no signs of stopping its own titles from launching on day one for the service. However, Phil Spencer said the company doesn’t want it to replace the practice of owning games. Head here for more details.

As caught by RockPaperShotgun, Colantonio spoke on a recent episode of the Quad Damage Podcast when asked about sequels to the Prey and Dishonored games. While he didn’t express any interest in a new game in the Prey series, Colantonio was keen on working on a hypothetical Dishonored 3.

“I’d love to,” said Colantonio. “I mean, we’re talking totally hypothetically at this point – I could see myself working on Dishonored 3 right now because it’s been so long that, you know, why not?”

He mentioned that quite a few of the developers at Arkane had their own ideas for a new game in the Dishonored franchise, including Deathloop director Dinga Bkaba and Dishonored creator Harvey Smith. However, since these are just ideas for now and haven’t even been pitched as of yet, Colantonio doesn’t believe there is much of a point in talking about a Dishonored 3 at this stage.

“I don’t think it would make sense to talk about it,” Colantonio continued. “Which of those three versions will ever see the day, now we’re talking about science fiction at this point. So many of the people [that worked on the series] are scattered around, and Harvey is not at Arkane any more. I’m not at Arkane, and Dinga is working on Blade.”

The first Dishonored game, back when it came out in 2013 on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, essentially put Arkane on the map after the studio had previously worked on niche titles like Arx Fatalis and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. Dishonored was able to successfully combine an oppressive visual style in the vein of Half-Life 2 with the stealth-based gameplay of the Thief franchise and some of the more fanciful abilities you’d see in titles like System Shock 2.

Its sequel, Dishonored 2, was also a critical success. The game was especially praised for the wide variety of powers that players could get access to, as well as intricate level design that still hasn’t been seen in other games since then.

While Arkane Lyon, the studio that worked on Deathloop, is currently working on Marvel’s Blade, the game is still some time away. Back in December, reports indicated that the studio was internally aiming to launch it in 2027 “at the earliest.”

Arkane Austin, on the other hand, was part of a host of studio closures at Microsoft last year. The studio was joined by Tango Gameworks, Roundhouse Studios, and Alpha Dog Studios. Bikaba has previously called the closure of these studios “absolutely terrible.” He also called out company executives for making developers’ work environments “Darwinist jungles.”

For more details, check out our coverage of the closure of Arkane Austin. In the meantime, also check out our review of Dishonored, Dishonored 2, and Dishonored: Death of the Outsider.

One franchise that’s in with a fair shout of getting more than a handful of votes though is Arkane’s Dishonored. The first was in 2012, it’s sequel and subsequent DLC in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Deathloop – purportedly set in the same universe – released in 2021. Following Arkane’s misstep with last year’s Redfall maybe a return to one of their success stories is just what they need (ignoring the fact Arkane Lyon currently working on Marvel’s Blade). A return to Dishonored is just the ticket; this stealth-orientated action-adventure series won a lot of fans following Dishonored 2’s release despite its component parts lacking distinction when viewed individually.

See, it’s freedom to approach objectives in a variety of ways isn’t unlike Hitman. It’s level design – whilst exceptional, of course – isn’t objectively better than Bioshock or any of FromSoftware’s offerings. Its story is arguably middling, its FPS combat relatively shallow. Yet, these elements coalesce beautifully to create a vibrant whole. Underpinned by fantastic stealth and – potentially the game’s biggest strength – its replayability, then there really hasn’t been anything like Dishonored 2 since.

Discussing deeper it’s replayability, now the point has already been made that the facets comprising Dishonored 2 aren’t all that unique on their own and justifiably its possession of high replay value doesn’t make it stand out above anything that’s been released since. Disco Elysium, for example, provides opportunities to solve its central mystery straight as an arrow or as an absolute train wreck, or some form of concoction blurring the two. NieR: Automata encourages you replay the story up to five times to experience the story from multiple perspectives, with numerous possible endings the result. Dishonored 2, however, does this but with much more.

Principal behind its replayability are its two central characters – royal guard, assassin, and protagonist from the first game, Corvo Attano, and dethroned Empress of the Empire of the Isles, daughter and protegee of Corvo, Emily Kaldwin. Following the undermining of Emily’s rule due to enigmatic The Crown Killer assassinating her political opponents and the resulting coup the player can then choose one or the other to complete the game. Their chosen character then escapes through picturesque seaside city Karnaca whilst the other is turned to stone; defeating conspirators, forging alliances, and rescuing their next of kin from rocky prison make up the bulk of ensuing narrative. Two playable characters equals two possible endings, of course, but it’s not just how the story concludes that encourages replayability. There are many ways to skin a cat, as the saying goes, and the same is true here. How you reach the story’s conclusion can vary wildly depending on the choices, playstyles, and approaches you employ with each character along the way.

High and low chaos playthroughs, calculated predominately on opponents indiscriminately killed alongside completing specific side objectives, influence places that are accessible, NPCs that are encounterable, plus the number of guards, rats, weepers, and bloodflies and their relative strengths and stature. Going further, you may opt for a pacifist run with either character, favouring non-lethal takedowns. Or, maybe a pure stealth run whereby you attempt to avoid enemy detection throughout the entire game. You could choose to eschew supernatural powers or use nothing but. Perhaps an all-guns blazing approach akin to FPS is your choice, even if the game isn’t well suited to this approach. It’s still a viable strategy.

This rampant choice of playthrough styles feeds into the game’s aforementioned freedom to explore different approaches whilst you wade through Dishonored 2’s levels (a facet unremarkable on its own remember). For example, your modes of traversal can differ greatly should you opt not to use supernatural power versus a run where you embrace them totally. Unsurprisingly, both Corvo and Emily have unique supernatural powers too. Corvo, a combatant more adept at silent infiltration than Emily, possesses the Blink ability granting him power to move forward rapidly. Emily, an assassin more accomplished with swords and gunfire, has the Far Reach ability enabling her to pull herself rapidly across a set distance. Whilst both abilities might perform a similar function at first glance it’s the possible upgrades that send them off into different directions. Corvo’s Blink ability can be upgraded to stop time or incapacitate enemies in its duration whilst Emily’s Far Reach upgrades involve pulling objects, corpses, or still living enemies towards her.

Further abilities see Corvo possessing and controlling host humans, or Emily adopting a shadowy, stealthier form. Corvo can summon rats to wipe out multiple enemies whilst Emily’s Domino ability chains humans together to wipe them out simultaneously. These supernatural powers are undeniably cool and together with the litany of stealthy methods of enemy takedown – the sabotaging of electrical appliances or the array of traps available, for instance – means you’re never short of differing approaches to explore.

Speaking of cool, special shoutout must go to Dishonored 2’s A Crack in the Slab mission and it’s Timepiece artefact. This artefact allows you to shift between two timelines within Aramis Stilton’s manor – the ruinous present-day contemporary to the game, and more lavish three years in the past. Now, Titanfall 2 had already experimented with a similar mechanic in its Effect and Cause level, but it wasn’t done with as much finesse as Dishonored 2’s attempt. Flicking up the Timepiece’s lens presents a window into the past. You can see guards patrolling an area as they did three years ago, then swiftly swipe into their timeline, eradicate them, change history, and traverse back to the present day. Taking actions in the past that have consequences in the future is the kind of head spinnery that belongs in a game like Dishonored 2. It’s enthralling, especially the first time.   

Interestingly though, despite its appeal the mission involving the Timepiece is the only one in the game that doesn’t encourage a multitude of approaches. Powers can’t be used, it’s the Timepiece and the Timepiece only. Still, as a mechanic its vastly underutilised in gaming and something which, should we ever see a Dishonored 3, Arkane would do well to refine and reuse.

Technical shortcomings plagued Dishonored 2’s launch on PC, but with a decent enough spec machine it should run absolutely fine in 2024, with ability to hit that maximum 120 fps. With the game occupying the lower end of the price scale, with regular discounts to boot, you’d be missing out were you not to give it a go, assuming you haven’t blasted through it multiple times already. There aren’t a lot of games like it. As already mentioned, its components don’t shine individually, but they combine exceptionally well. The Southern Mediterranean influenced coastal city of Karnaca has such a strong sense of place that it’s a joy to revisit. It’s just a shame the game’s story and associated character development weren’t up to the same standard as its stealth, supernatural powers, and world design, but these are things that Arkane can address in a follow, should one ever materialise.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

While some pointed at the failure of Redfall as the reason for the latter’s closure, former Arkane president and founder Raphael Colantino still feels it was “not a good decision.”

“I think if you look a little bit, it’s obvious that Arkane Austin was a very special group that made some cool things and could pull it off again. I think it was a decision that came down to, ‘We need to cut something.’ Was it to please the investors, the stock market? They’re playing a different game,” said Colantino to PC Gamer.

Having left Arkane in 2017 and established WolfEye Studios, which released Weird West in 2022 (and is seemingly working on a new sci-fi RPG), Colantino says it’s “hard to know” why Microsoft shut down the studio. “The rules that they play, we might not understand them. It’s a different thing. It’s hard to know why they did what they did. The only thing that I stand by is saying that the specific choice of killing Arkane Austin was not a good decision.”

He also feels that recreating the studio’s magic will be impossible. “Recreating a very special group like that is, I would dare to say, impossible. It takes forever. When you have that magic of Harvey [Smith] and Ricardo [Bare] etc, that all come together, it’s a specific moment in time and space that just worked out this way, that took forever to reach. Those people together can really make magic.

“It’s not like, ‘Doesn’t matter, we’ll just rehire.’ No, try it. That’s what big groups do all the time. They try to just hire massively and overpay people to create those magic groups. It doesn’t work like this. So, to me, that was stupid. But what do I know?”

Though Arkane Austin is gone, Tango Gameworks was saved by Krafton, which acquired it and the Hi-Fi Rush IP from Microsoft. The publisher has since hyped Hi-Fi Rush 2 as somewhat of an open-world experience with more “dynamic” environments. Work paused on the sequel due to Tango’s closure, but it will resume “soon.” Stay tuned for updates in the meantime.

Taking to Twitter, WolfEye Studios and Colantonio both recently confirmed that new details on their next title will be revealed “in a few days”. 

WolfEye Studios has also confirmed – true to previous reports – that the title is going to be a first-person action RPG, as opposed to Weird West, which was an isometric title. Colantonio, meanwhile, has also indicated that the game is going to be similar to the first-person titles he worked on while at Arkane, including the likes of Dishonored and Prey. 

“Fans of the previous 1st person games I was involved with (Dishonored and Prey) will be happy,” he wrote.

With Gamescom coming up towards the end of this month, there’s a good chance that that’s where we’ll be learning more about WolfEye Studios’ next title, though that is just a guess at this point. Either way, new information should be arriving sooner rather than later, so stay tuned for further updates.

Revealed in June 2021 for Xbox Series X/S and PC, it’s set in the titular town where vampires have taken over and blotted out the sun. While Arkane Austin mostly cut its teeth on immersive sim titles, its last being 2017’s Prey, this was open-world, focused on gunplay and offering unique kits for each character.

Updates were sparse until Microsoft announced in May 2022 that Redfall and Starfield were delayed to the first half of 2023. As its release year rolled around, Redfall started generating a bit of concern. Campaign co-op progress tied to the host, a persistent online connection (even while playing solo) – the last straw was arguably no 60 FPS option available for Xbox Series X/S consoles at launch.

This was the least of its problems, though. Redfall finally launched to mixed reviews, with the public reception arguably even worse. Aside from all the technical issues and bugs, the title received criticism for its terrible user interface, lackluster story (presented in dull, barely animated cutscenes), horrible controls, and a barren world. On top of this, it had no co-op matchmaking – baffling, considering playing with others was a selling point.

Despite sales later being considered “minimal,” Arkane Austin wasn’t slated to be shut down (at least, not then). For its part, Arkane Austin implemented improvements to the best of its ability, with update 1.1 launching in June 2023 and increasing the spawn rate of enemies, upping the difficulty level while polishing their AI and fixing performance issues.

The update was more targeted towards improving the overall experience, from visibility when aiming down sights on sniper rifle scopes to ammo persisting between gameplay sessions when using ammo storage skills. It was also now possible to move while using melee attacks against enemies without interruption. New issues seemingly emerged, like infinite loading screens, Nest completion not counting towards the Rook’s meter, etc.

The next update wouldn’t be until October, but it added the long-awaited 60 FPS Performance Mode on Xbox Series X/S. Aim assist and dead zone tuning were improved. addressing one of the more underrated complaints with the horrendous aiming and lack of options to tweak it. Performance on PC also saw multiple improvements to accommodate a wider range of configurations.

While it didn’t offer too much by way of new missions, loot or enemy types, you could now stealth takedown Cultists and Bellwether enemies. Missions encounters saw balance changes, and the open world now had more enemies with some unique encounters to discover. Quality-of-life changes, like surfaces denoted as interactable for vaulting and mantling, and more consistency to compass markers and objectives that require searching areas, were also implemented.

The next update arrived in November and added a new Unrivaled Sniper Rifle in Basilisk. Its unique perk is the first bullet in a full magazine possessing UV power, thus petrifying Vampires if it hits. Not ideal against humans or enemies immune to Petrification, but it was a decent addition to the loot pool.

Otherwise, there were rebalances to enemies. You would no longer encounter Shrouds, Anglers and Siphons until completing some missions or reaching a certain level. However, enemies overall became more challenging, whether it’s Watchers reacting faster to players within its line of sight, the Siphon being more resistant to fire, or Soulless enemies dealing more damage up close. Human enemies were also buffed – they could finally climb awnings. Truly wondrous.

While Arkane Austin didn’t have any information on the two new heroes available with the Bite Back Edition’s Hero Pass, it did promise more details in 2024. Despite its rough launch year, there was hope.

Of course, its first anniversary came and went with still no details, not even a celebratory tweet. Instead, on May 7th, Microsoft shockingly announced that Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Studios of Mighty Doom fame and Arkane Austin were shutting down. Roundhouse Studios, which supported Redfall’s development, would be rolled into ZeniMax Online Studios to work on The Elder Scrolls Online.

The announcement came out of left field for Arkane since it was still working on its new heroes and an update to add offline mode. Both were seemingly scrapped, with servers remaining online, and those who purchased the Bite Back Edition or its premium upgrade were eligible to receive some credit back.

However, Arkane Austin later confirmed that the update would launch and be the game’s last before the studio closed. It arrived on May 30th and offered a small but substantial list of new features. A new reputation system, Community Standing, had been added and increased based on unlocking Safehouses, helping civilians and killing Underbosses.

This wasn’t a simple bar to fill, though. Community Standing had a dedicated skill tree with six ranks and 39 rewards. You could make it so that human enemies dropped more ammo on kill, Grave Locks appeared on your map and compass (making them easier to find), and unlocked Safehouses provided friendly turrets. Decreased damage from the Rook’s lightning strikes, improved rewards from Anglers, Shrouds and Siphons, more frequent Unrivaled Items and even a special cloak that would activate if your health fell to critical levels were also available to unlock.

There were also new Elder Nests whose objective involved slaying powerful vampires to receive temporary buffs like regenerating ammo on holstered weapons or getting healed by UV light. Players could now play offline, continuing their campaign if disconnected from the internet, and pause – yes, pause – while playing solo. Though it didn’t provide patch notes, Arkane Austin also touted, “New enemy encounters in Redfall Commons, continued AI improvements, Story Mode difficulty, and a new Unrivaled Weapon.” Alas, it was too little, too late.

Even with these updates and the studio officially shuttered, Redfall maintains a “Mostly Negative” rating on Steam, with only 37 percent positive reviews. Sift through the few positive ones (with 81 percent of the 44 recent reviews being positive), and there’s some praise for the new Community Standing system and offline play. Nevertheless, those who enjoyed the game admit that you should pick it up at a heavy discount, and even then, it’s just fine. In the end, the redemption arc was cut short.

Like many live service titles, Redfall had its share of alleged development troubles. Nevertheless, the closure of Arkane Austin is bittersweet, both for the employees who tried to make the game a success and those who valued its previous single-player efforts. The fact that a single-player focus immersive sim, potentially a new Dishonored, was reportedly pitched before the studio’s closure makes you wonder what could have been.

Arkane Lyon remains, and it’s somewhat poetic that its next project, Marvel’s Blade, is yet another game about slaying vampires. The more things change, the more they remain the same, but hopefully, the outcome ends up more in the studio’s favor.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

For starters, several quality-of-life features have been added to the game with its latest update. For instance, Redfall can now finally be played offline, while when playing solo, you will now also have the option to pause the game. Beyond that, there’s also a new Story Mode difficulty, new enemy encounters and weapons, and DLSS3 support.

Additionally, a couple of major new gameplay features have also been introduced. There’s a revamped Neighborhoods system, which comes with a new Safehouse skill tree that you are able to progress through, which, in turn, is done by filling up the new Community Standing bar by unlocking Safehouses, completing Safehouse missions, rescuing civilians, or killing an Underboss. The new tree has six ranks in total, each bringing with it a number of unique unlockable buffs and boosts.

Finally, there’s also a revamped Nests system in place, which introduces the new Elder Nests, which are described as “new Boss-focused Nests will challenge you to destroy dangerously modified special Vampires”. Clearing these Nests will net you and your teammates with temporary buffs called Heart Shards, which will provide a variety of unique benefits.

Of course, though Arkane Austin isn’t going to be able to g through with its reportedly significant post-launch DLC plans for the maligned game, it does look like the studio is at least getting to push a significant final update before signing off for good.

Redfall is available on Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Game Update 4 is available now and features Offline Mode, ReVamped Neighborhood and Nest systems, Single Player Pausing, and more.

Learn more about the update here: https://t.co/h6M9lCfVwS pic.twitter.com/u9vuvcCI9x

— Redfall (@playRedfall) May 30, 2024

The Hero Pass is included with the $100 Bite Back Edition, which is still available at full price. Along with the base game, players get alternate outfits, weapon skins and attachments for the core cast, and two future DLC characters. The last update for Redfall was in November, with Arkane promising more details on new heroes and other updates “later” in 2024.

About halfway through the year, there have been no announcements. Maybe Microsoft is saving it for the Xbox Games Showcase on June 9th, with a potential shadow drop. Time will tell, but it’s not doing much to assuage concerns among existing players.

Redfall is available for Xbox Series X/S and PC. Check out our review here and how it went so wrong here.

As such, here, we’re going to take a look at every upcoming game based on a Marvel property that has been officially confirmed to be in development so far and talk about everything we know about them at this point in time.

MARVEL’S WOLVERINE

With three excellent Spider-Man games now under its belt, Insomniac Games has comfortably carved out an unforgettable place for itself in Marvel history, and the next challenge that the studio is looking to take on is none other than Wolverine himself. Marvel’s Wolverine has been in development for a while now, and even though official details on the game are scant at best, purely based on how well Insomniac has done with the Spider-Man license, it’s easy to get excited about what it’ll do with Wolverine.

Of course, though official details on the game aren’t readily available, there has been plenty of information that has emerged through other channels. Even if we don’t dive into the data breach that Insomniac suffered in December, prior reports over the last couple of years had shed light on some interesting details about the game, alleging that it will be a semi-open world experience set in the fictional Marvel city of Madripoor, while adopting a no-holds-barred approach to the grittiness and violence that one would normally associate with Wolverine and his adamantium claws.

How accurate those details will end up being remains to be seen, and for now, there’s no word on when the game will be out- though reports have claimed that it’s targeting a 2026 launch. Does that mean we might get to a new look at it sometime this year? Or would Insomniac prefer to hold off for a little longer and kick off the game’s marketing cycle in earnest sometime in 2025?

MARVEL’S BLADE

This one came out of nowhere. Arkane Studios may have had a 2023 to forget, thanks to the disaster that was Redfall, but its Lyon team – responsible for the likes of Dishonored 2 and Deathloop – ended the year on a strong note, with the surprising announcement that it was developing a Blade game. Now, it’s fair to say that the vampire-hunting vampire doesn’t have the universal mainstream appeal of someone like a Spider-Man or an Iron Man (or not yet, anyway), but as the property’s many dedicated fans would tell you, the prospect of a Blade game that prescribes to the design philosophies and sense of style one usually associates with Arkane sounds almost like an unlikely yet perfect fit- much like Spider-Man and Insomniac when that pairing was first announced.

So what do we know about Marvel’s Blade so far? It’s going to be a single player action-adventure game that is going to integrate many of the immersive sim elements Arkane has become renowned for. Set in the city of Paris, it’s been described as a mature and gritty experience – appropriately enough for Blade – and, interestingly enough, will be Arkane’s first third-person game. As for when it’ll be out? There isn’t much clarity there. At the time of the game’s announcement, Bethesda said the game had “just begun development”, though the LinkedIn profile of campaign director Dana Nightingale would suggest that it’s been in the works since 2022. Either way, it’s quite a ways off yet, with journalist Jeff Grubb having claimed that, as things stand right now, the game is targeting a 2027 launch at the very earliest.

SKYDANCE NEW MEDIA’S CAPTAIN AMERICA AND BLACK PANTHER GAME

Probably one of the more unique games in this entire list, given the fact that it’s starring not one, but two renowned Marvel heroes. In 2021, it was announced that Skydance New Media – led by Uncharted creator Amy Hennig – was working on a new Marvel game, and in 2022, it was announced that the game would star both Captain America and Black Panther. Set during World War 2, along with the two heroes, the game will also star two non-superpowered humans, and feature all four as its main playable heroes. The premise in and of itself is a fascinating one, and when you add to that the fact that the game is being billed as a big, cinematic, story-driven blockbuster, it becomes even more enticing.

The last time we heard anything about this game was over a year ago at this point, and there hasn’t really been any new information on it in the time that’s passed since then. With no gameplay footage having been revealed so far and not even an official title having been confirmed, our hope is that we’ll be seeing more of this game at some point in the not-too-distant.

CLIFFHANGER GAMES’ BLACK PANTHER GAME

Skydance’s game isn’t the only one that will be representing Black Panther. Leaks had claimed for a while that EA was working on a single player, open world Black Panther game set in Wakanda, and in July last year, that was confirmed. The game is being developed by Cliffhanger Games, a new Electronic Arts studio established in Seattle and let by Kevin Stephens, who was previously the studio head at Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War developer Monolith Productions.

Up to this point, we’ve seen nothing of the Black Panther game, but the few details that have been revealed sound promising. It’s going to be set in an open world Wakanda, which Cliffhanger Games is describing as an “expansive and reactive” setting. Interestingly, it will also feature what’s been dubbed the Open Story system, which is promising “dynamic narrative and branching dialogue” to allow players to shape the story how they see fit. Exactly how that differs from regular choice and consequence mechanics remains to be seen- but the idea of a Black Panther game with player choice and a branching story is certainly an intriguing one.

Black Panther is being built on Unreal Engine 5, and upon its announcement last year, was said to be in early development. In all likelihood, that means it’ll be at least a couple of years before we start hearing more about it.

MOTIVE STUDIO’S IRON MAN GAME

Before Black Panther, the first Marvel game that EA announced was Iron Man, being developed by Motive Studio, the team behind 2023’s incredible remake of Dead Space. And what exactly do we know about it? Well, not much. We know it’s going to be a single player, third-person, action-adventure title, but that’s pretty much it as far as concrete details are concerned. Beyond that, job ads have suggested that it might be an open world game, and that, unlike Motive’s past projects – all of which were built on EA’s internal Frostbite engine – it’s being made on Unreal Engine 5.

There isn’t much clarity on when the game is going to launch either. When it was announced in September 2022, it was said to be in pre-production, and a little over a year later, in October last year, Motive Studio GM Patrick Klaus revealed that the game was still in early pre-production. What does that mean for how far away the game is from releasing? Well, it’s probably going to be a while. But will we be seeing at least a debut trailer at some point in the next year or so? That seems perhaps a little likelier.

EA’S THIRD MARVEL GAME

When Motive Studio’s Iron Man game was confirmed to be in development in 2022, EA revealed that it was set to be a part of a multi-game partnership that the company had entered into with Marvel, with a subsequent Bloomberg report claiming that the deal was going to cover three games. Since then, the second game has been confirmed as Cliffhanger Games’ Black Panther title- so what could the third game be? Given the complete lack of information (official or otherwise) on this front, all we can do for now is speculate, but based on how EA is handling Black Panther and Iron Man, it seems safe to assume that the third title will be another single player action-adventure experience. With those two still being in the early stages of production though, it’s probably going to be quite a while before we start hearing anything even close to concrete about the third game.