EA and Marvel announce a Black Panther game set in Wakanda
Separate from the other Black Panther game in development
Electronic Arts have opened a new studio called Cliffhanger Games to work on a game starring Marvel superhero Black Panther. They don't have much to say or show yet but EA describe the untitled project as a "third-person, singleplayer" game set in an "expansive and reactive" version of Wakanda, the futuristic kingdom that Black Panther calls home.
Cliffhanger Games are led by Kevin Stephens, the former head of Monolith Productions, the studio behind Middle-earth: Shadow Of Mordor. Stephens says in today's announcement that the team are giving players "more agency and control over their narrative than they have ever experienced." I assume he's talking about in-game control unless they're developing tools to mod real life. Stephens also called Wakanda a "rich superhero sandbox," so the game may or may not have an open world, too. Leaping across the city's rooftops does sound like decent fun, to be fair.
EA's Black Panther game isn't the only one in development. Last year, former Uncharted director Amy Hennig announced a team-up game following Black Panther and Captain America as they beat up Nazis. Both projects are without names right now, meaning it'll probably be hard to differentiate the two over the coming months and weeks. Remember, one of them has Captain America. Perhaps the other one will have a different superpowered guest for further brand recognition.
Black Panther made his debut in comics during the 1960s and main man T'Challa is most commonly the human wearing the cool suit. The hero might lend himself quite well to video games since all types of tough choices tend to arise for a king. We'll have to see if this game plays with that royal decision-making, though.
EA and Marvel have committed to "at least three" superhero games over the next few years, including this Black Panther game and a separate Iron Man project in development at Dead Space remake studio Motive. That might leave the door open to an Avengers-type crossover game in the future, which is either exciting or terrifying depending on how you feel about the MCU right now. Hopefully that hypothetical crossover doesn't end up like, y'know, Square Enix's actual ill-fated Avengers game (which is where the above headline image comes from).