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

Sources speaking to Henderson revealed that playtesting started yesterday and lasts till November 2nd. These are part of Electronic Arts’ “1-on-1” sessions at one of its studios. “Playtesting,” in this case, is a bit of a misnomer as they’re actually feedback sessions for what the developer has planned.

Electronic Arts’ description for 1-on-1 Playtests also reinforces this. “Get an inside look at a game/product and talk through your experience directly with an EA Researcher. They will ask you questions about your experiences, preferences, and other areas of interest. These conversations typically last between 30 and 120 minutes and may happen online or in person at one of our Player Experience Labs.”

It may be a while before the game undergoes playtesting for bugs and other issues. Stay tuned in the meantime for more details.

Other Marvel titles rumored to be in development under Electronic Arts include Black Panther. A new Seattle-based studio run by former Monolith Productions VP Kevin Stephens is allegedly working on the open-world single-player title. It has yet to be officially announced.

“We both want to make great action games that are innovative. And we also love bringing to life iconic worlds,” says Marvel Games’ VP and creative director Bill Rosemann. “On top of that, we want every player to feel like the hero and to deliver on that fantasy, that wish-fulfilment.”

As you’d imagine, when it comes to gameplay, the developers are well aware of the fact that the experience of being able to fly around as Iron Man is going to be a crucial aspect of the experience. At the same time, however, the Motive Studio also wants to ensure that it tells a captivating original story and properly captures the essence of the iconic character.

“It’s about understanding the characters,” says executive producer Olivier Proulx, who was also involved in the development of Square Enix and Eidos Montreal’s Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. “What drives these characters? And building a great story from there. Of course, not only from a story perspective, but also a gameplay mechanics perspective, how does that translate to the nature of the characters? With Guardians of the Galaxy it was all about team play, so we built a lot of narrative systems around that. And with Iron Man, having that visceral experience of flying around as Iron Man is going to be supremely important, and of course building a great story around Tony Stark and tapping into his character. He is a creative genius, that is his superpower, so there are great narrative opportunities there. But then it’s about how that translates to the gameplay experience as well.”

Proulx goes on to say that as the game’s central concept and ideas start to solidify, Motive Studio will begin expanding its development team, with the developer focused on delivering a “super high production value AAA experience”.

“As we grow more confident in our ideas and start to prove out some of these creative endeavours, we will grow the team,” he said. “We want this to be a super high production value AAA experience. It’s single-player, it’s action adventure, so we want to go all-in on how it plays and how it comes across on screen. And we want to have the right size team and budget to make sure we deliver on that.”

Interestingly, Proulx has also spoken about the game’s single player nature, which – given EA’s tumultuous history with single player experiences in recent years – may have come as a pleasant surprise to many.

“It’s really about telling a great story,” he says. “At Motive, and within EA, we think there is a lot of space for great single-player games. The games industry is not only one thing, and single-player experiences are still a huge part of it. But this game specifically, to do a strong narrative experience tied to Tony Stark and channelling his charisma, his complexity as a character… going single-player is the way to go.”

EA has confirmed that Motive Studio’s Iron Man game is one of several Marvel games that the company has planned as part of its new collaboration with Marvel. Leaks have claimed that a single player open world Black Panther game is also in development.

Though it features an original story, Motive is working with Marvel Games to tap into the “rich history of Iron Man, channeling the complexity, charisma, and creative genius of Tony Stark, and enabling players to feel what it’s like to truly play as Iron Man.”

Marvel Games VP and creative director Bill Rosemann said, “We are thrilled to collaborate with the talented team at Motive Studio to bring their original vision of one of Marvel’s most important, powerful and beloved characters. Their experience delivering both established entertainment worlds and thrilling gameplay — combined with their authentic passion for the armored icon — will fuel our quest to deliver a love letter to a legendary hero in the form of the ultimate Iron Man video game.”

Proulx added, “It’s an honor and privilege to have the opportunity to make a video game based on one of the most iconic Super Heroes in entertainment today. We have a great opportunity to create a new and unique story that we can call our own. Marvel is encouraging us to create something fresh. We have a lot of freedom, which is so engaging for the team.”

It’s still early days yet, but the publisher says there will be more updates as development progresses. Interestingly, it also mentioned that Iron Man was the “first of several new games” being developed in this new collaboration with Marvel. Rumors of an open-world Black Panther game from EA have also been making the rounds, so this only lends more fuel to the same. Given the timing of Iron Man’s announcement, it seems Black Panther could release later after all.

In the meantime, Motive is currently staffing up with several positions open here. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months.

After confirming that it was the other game he was referring to when discussing the rumored Black Panther title, Grubb said, “You shouldn’t have to wait much longer to hear about it, but you will have to wait to play it. Although it’s coming before Black Panther.” It’s interesting since Iron Man was noted as being “super, super, super early” in development by XboxEra’s Nick Baker.

Then again, Black Panther is rumored to be an open-world game developed by a new studio led by Kevin Stephens of Middle-Earth Shadow of Mordor and War fame. It may thus necessitate a longer development cycle due to its scale. As for Iron Man’s developer, Grubb said that it’s Motive Studios after the Dead Space remake has wrapped. Motive is based in Montreal, Canada so it fits with Axios’ source.

How soon the reveal will happen remains to be seen. It could be announced at The Game Awards in December for all we know, so stay tuned. In the meantime, Skydance New Media has announced its own upcoming Marvel game starring Black Panther and Captain America. A release window, platforms and official name have not been confirmed.

This is the other game I was talking about when we went over the Black Panther stuff. You shouldn't have to wait much longer to hear about it, but you will have to wait to play it. Although it's coming before Black Panther. https://t.co/qFaStBsoL6

— Grubb (@JeffGrubb) September 10, 2022

Motive is doing iron man after dead space. A team of former Shadow of Mordor devs will make Black Panther.

— Grubb (@JeffGrubb) September 10, 2022

Baker refused to give many clues but in the recent XboxEra Podcast, he confirmed that it was indeed Iron Man. “Yes, Iron Man is the game that I had heard. Before I mentioned Iron Man, I showed Jeff Grubb my DM that said EA was working on Iron Man. Tom Henderson heard the same. He just wasn’t sure. And part of the reason I never mentioned Iron Man is because it’s super, super, super early. Like, so early, in fact, that there’s a chance it still doesn’t happen. That’s how early this is. It’s, like, ridiculously early.

“No one is more excited about the potential of an Iron Man game than me but I’m trying not to get too excited because of how early I was told it was. My source was like, ‘Ridiculously early.’ Like it might not even still happen, this Iron Man game by EA. But yes, I did show Jeff. I ran it by Tom Henderson. He said he had heard, but he wasn’t sure.”

An Iron Man game from Electronic Arts wouldn’t be too crazy. The flying in BioWare’s Anthem was considered to be directly inspired by the same and was one of the most well-received aspects of the game. As always, though, time will tell if the project goes forward.

The rumored Black Panther project is also very early in development at a new EA studio in Seattle, led by former Monolith Productions VP Kevin Stephens, who worked on Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War. It’s reportedly set after Black Panther’s death though it’s unknown whether players must become the new Black Panther or play as a different character. Stay tuned for more potential details in the future.

No other details were provided but insider Tom Henderson did hear a few rumors that it’s Iron Man. Given that nothing concrete has come up yet, he advised placing it “heavily” under the “rumor” category for the time being.

An Iron Man title actually wouldn’t be that surprising. Camouflaj and Sony Interactive Entertainment released Marvel’s Iron Man VR in June 2020 for PlayStation VR. It was a first-person shooter where players could fly around using Tony Stark’s suit and blast enemies out of the sky. Despite the mixed/average critical reception, it still showcases how a single-player game based on the Iron Man comics could work.

Of course, as Henderson noted, it’s all rumors. How early into development this new Marvel game is and which property it’s based on remains to be seen so stay tuned.

Rumor: EA is working on another single player Marvel game in addition to Black Panther.https://t.co/NvETqZPul0 pic.twitter.com/qPHn81nyMA

— Kami (@Okami13_) August 3, 2022

I've heard a few rumors that it's Iron Man but I never had anything concrete to fully report on.

Put this heavily under the "rumor" category for now and if I hear/see more information that's concrete I'll report on it properly. Just thought it was worth mentioning. https://t.co/MF3ddG04yR

— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) August 3, 2022

Sony has announced in a recent PlayStation Blog post that it won’t be attending PAX East 2020. The company was set to feature a number of titles at the show including an hour-long demo of The Last of Us Part 2 for attendees. However, due to fears stemming from the coronavirus, it felt that this was “the safest option.”

“We are disappointed to cancel our participation in this event, but the health and safety of our global workforce is our highest concern.” Along with The Last of Us Part 2, Sony would also have had Marvel’s Iron Man, Nioh 2, Spelunky 2 and Final Fantasy 7 Remake at the show. Better safe than sorry in this case, especially if it meant representatives for each title would also be present.

There will still be plenty of games present at the show with new information. PlatinumGames’ The Wonderful 101: Remastered, having seen a wildly successful crowdfunding campaign so far, will be present. Baldur’s Gate 3 from Larian Studios will also see its worldwide gameplay reveal (though the footage will also be released online). Sony’s exclusion is an understandable downer but the show will continue.

PAX East 2020 takes place from February 27th to March 1st in Boston, Massachusetts.