Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater set the internet ablaze with hype and anticipation when it was announced, and while some snippets of the gameplay have been revealed already – we are still waiting for sort of a launch trailer or a gameplay deep dive before we reach its imminent release date of August 28.

“Our partnership with Marvel remains strong and our multi-title, long-term collaboration continues,” said Miele in a statement.

Another statement by a spokesperson for Marvel also reiterated the same idea, saying that both companies remain dedicated to their collaboration to make original games based on Marvel’s various IPs.

“The multi-title, long-term relationship between Marvel Games and EA, a creative collaboration focused on original storytelling with various, beloved Marvel characters, remains strong,” said Marvel’s spokesperson. “Development of our console and PC titles, beginning with Marvel’s Iron Man, is led by Motive Studios.”

The cancellation of Black Panther, long with the closure of the studio working on it – Cliffhanger Games – was discovered earlier this week. “These decisions are hard. They affect people we’ve worked with, learned from, and shared real moments with,” said Miele in an email to employees announcing the cancellation and studio closure. “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.”

The Black Panther game was not the only Marvel game officially confirmed by EA. The company has also been working on a game based on Iron Man. However, we haven’t yet heard much in the way of details about this Iron Man game, aside from the fact that it is being developed by EA Motive, and that, earlier this month, the studio was looking to hire a level designer.

“Since [Dead Space’s launch], our focus has switched to the Iron Man project, giving us the opportunity to work (and play!) with another extraordinary property,” wrote Klaus when announcing that the studio had hit a major milestone in the development of the Iron Man game. “We’re still early in pre-production and taking our time to make sure we set the best possible foundation for development. But already, we’re finding so many opportunities to explore story, design and gameplay with Iron Man, and it’s exciting to see the fantasy start coming alive.”

According to a 2022 report by Bloomberg, Iron Man was slated to be the first of the games that would be part of the multi-game deal signed between EA and Marvel. It is quite likely that the canceled Black Panther project would have been the second game, and an unknown third-title might still be in development. It is also possible that EA has decided to replace the Black Panther game’s spot in the deal with a new project internally. However, no announcements about this have been made.

For more on EA’s recent cancellation of Black Panther, check out the thoughts of some of its developers, as well as our own thoughts on what could have gone wrong with the project.

Along with designing levels, the responsibilities for the job posting include bringing the levels through every phase of development, from concept all the way up to polishing. The level designer will also need to incorporate feedback from research and playtest data, while also communicating with the rest of the team when it comes to feedback on the levels they design.

According to the posting, the position requires a potential level designer to have experience with single-player action RPG titles, as well as creative skills when it comes to conceptualising and designing environments. The posting also requires familiarity with Epic’s Unreal Engine.

The last time EA Motive spoke about Iron Man was with general manager Patrick Klaus revealing that the team in the studio working on the game had hit a major internal milestone. In his update, Klaus mentioned that the project, led by Olivier Proulx and Ian Frazier, has laid “a robust foundation for the journey ahead.”

The major internal milestone would likely have to do with the pre-production phase of the development of Iron Man. Back in October 2023, Klaus had revealed that EA Motive was still in the early stages of the game’s development, having started work on the title after wrapping up the Dead Space remake earlier that year.

“Since [Dead Space’s launch], our focus has switched to the Iron Man project, giving us the opportunity to work (and play!) with another extraordinary property,” Klaus wrote back then. “We’re still early in pre-production and taking our time to make sure we set the best possible foundation for development. But already, we’re finding so many opportunities to explore story, design and gameplay with Iron Man, and it’s exciting to see the fantasy start coming alive.”

While we don’t yet know too much about the Iron Man project, back in 2023, author Ryan North had announced that he was joining the writing team for the game. Nolan, who has worked on a host of comic books (Jughead, Adventure Time, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl) as well as 2022 video game Lost in Random, said that “You are not ready for how amazing this game is going to be.”

Owing to the general silence regarding the game, EA had confirmed that development on Iron Man, along with another project based on superhero Black Panther, hadn’t been cancelled. The statement came in light of lay-offs at the time affecting 670 employees throughout the company.

Currently, no further details about EA Motive’s Iron Man game have been revealed, including what platforms it would be coming to, or even a potential launch window. Going by EA’s general multiplatform release strategy, however, the title is likely being made for PC and consoles.

Well, it doesn’t. In an update announcing the studio joining the larger Battlefield team, general manager Patrick Klaus revealed that though a separate team within Motive is continuing its work on Iron Man, which recently passed a major internal milestone.

“In parallel, development continues to move forward on our Iron Man project, led by Olivier Proulx (Executive Producer) and Ian Frazier (Creative Director),” Klaus wrote. “The team made excellent progress this year, hitting a major internal milestone and laying a robust foundation for the journey ahead. Iron Man is an important priority for Motive, and I’m very proud of the work we’ve accomplished so far.”

In October last year, it was said that the Iron Man project was still in early pre-production. Unlike past Motive titles, which were built on EA’s internal Frostbite engine, it’s being built on Unreal Engine 5, while job listings have suggested it could be an open world experience.

In February, Electronic Arts announced that it as part of internal restructuring that would involve 670 job cuts, it would be pivoting away from future development of licensed IP titles, as a result of which Respawn Entertainment’s single-player Star Wars FPS was cancelled. Shortly afterward, however, it was confirmed that development was continuing on Motive Studio’s Iron Man and Cliffhanger Games’ Black Panther.

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.

At least two of them are confirmed to be safe. In a statement to GamesIndustry, an Electronic Arts representative has confirmed that its two upcoming Marvel titles based on Iron Man and Black Panther are still in development.

Iron Man is in development at Motive Studio, the team behind 2023’s Dead Space remake, as a single player action-adventure game. Being built on Unreal Engine 5, it is currently still in pre-production, and job listings have suggested it could have an open world setting.

Black Panther, meanwhile, is being worked on by the newly-established Cliffhanger Games, and will be an open world, single player, action-adventure title, purportedly touting expansive choice-and-consequence mechanics that will allow players to shape their own stories.

Reports had previously indicated that EA’s partnership with Marvel would also cover a third game, though its status remains unknown.

Not all upcoming EA titles based on licensed IP have survived the culling, however. Respawn Entertainment’s single player Star Wars FPS has been cancelled.

Meanwhile, Battlefield studio Ridgeline Games has been shut down.

North has worked on comic books like The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Jughead and Adventure Time but is perhaps best known for the webcomic Dinosaur Comics. He won multiple Eisner Awards and even wrote the story for Zoink’s Lost in Random, which Electronic Arts published in 2021 for consoles and PC as part of the EA Originals label.

Motive’s Iron Man title doesn’t have a release window or announced platforms. It’s confirmed to be a single-player game with an original story “tied to Tony Stark and channeling his charisma.” The developer wants to deliver a “super high production value AAA experience,” with a recent job ad suggesting the title could be open-world. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months, especially since rumors claim it’s releasing before EA’s Black Panther game.

https://twitter.com/ryanqnorth/status/1717249034723664023

Written by Motive Studio GM Patrick Klaus, the update reveals that though the development team’s focus has shifted to the Iron Man game since the Dead Space remake’s launch earlier this year, the title is still in the pre-production phase.

“Since [Dead Space’s launch], our focus has switched to the Iron Man project, giving us the opportunity to work (and play!) with another extraordinary property,” Klaus wrote in the update. “We’re still early in pre-production and taking our time to make sure we set the best possible foundation for development. But already, we’re finding so many opportunities to explore story, design and gameplay with Iron Man, and it’s exciting to see the fantasy start coming alive.”

Additionally, Motive Studio has also set up a community council made up of fans that it intends to keep involved in the Iron Man title’s development even in its early stages, just as with Dead Space. Meanwhile, Klaus has also confirmed that the game is being built on Unreal Engine 5, something that has been mentioned in multiple previous job ads.

That will make this Motive Studio’s first game to be built on Unreal Engine, with all of the studio’s previous titles – Dead Space, Star Wars Squadrons, and Star Wars Battlefront 2 – having been built on Frostbite.

“Even this early in the process, we’ve put in place a Community Council made up of Iron Man and Marvel fans; as with Dead Space, they’ll be offering feedback on pretty much everything throughout the development process,” Klaus wrote. “Meanwhile, we’ve chosen Unreal Engine 5 as our game engine, in order to empower the dev team to work their magic and create something really special.”

Not much is known about the Iron Man game, though previous job listings have indicated that it could be an open world experience.

Meanwhile, Iron Man isn’t the only Marvel property that EA is currently working on. A single player action-adventure Black Panther game is also in development at the newly-established Cliffhanger Games, and has been confirmed as an open world title.

Interestingly, as per known comic book insider CanWeGetSomeToast, that inconsistency is something Marvel is “painfully aware” of. In a recent tweet, the insider claimed that there have been “whispers of an internal shift for Marvel to focus on games”, and that EA’s upcoming duo of single player action-adventure titles based on Black Panther (developed by Cliffhanger Games) and Iron Man (developed by Motive Studio) are supposed to be “the start of a push for something big.”

Of course, Marvel has a few other single player action-adventure titles confirmed to be in development as well. Skydance New Media, which is led by Uncharted creator Amy Hennig, is working on a game starring Black Panther and Captain America, while Insomniac is currently developing Marvel’s Wolverine, which, according to rumours, is targeting a Fall 2024 launch.

Meanwhile, later this month, on October 20, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will launch for PS5.

Marvel is PAINFULLY aware of how their video games division hasn’t been reaching its potential overall.

There have been whispers of an internal shift for Marvel to focus on games. The new EA Black Panther and Iron Man games will be the start of a push for something BIG. https://t.co/mFp2DQVYFH pic.twitter.com/AwSgGXMGTz

— CanWeGetSomeToast (@CanWeGetToast) September 30, 2023

EA Cliffhanger’s Black Panther Game

Marvel is partnering with the newly formed EA Cliffhanger Studio for an original game based on Black Panther. Details on the game are almost nonexistent, but we know that it will be a single-player experience played from a third-person perspective. Furthermore, key figures such as the likes of Kevin Stephens of Shadow of Mordor fame are helming the project – so it looks like the game could turn out to be something special. Of course, it’s still in the early stages of development – so keep your expectations in check for now.