According to GamesBeat Journalist, Jeff Grubb, EA’s newly formed studio based in Seattle is working on a Black Panther video game. Grubb added that Black Panther is still very early in its development and goes under the codename, “Project Rainier.” Grubb theorized that the Black Panther won’t be ready until at least 2024 if not much later. Finally, Grubb revealed that the Black Panther game is a strictly single-player experience that EA hopes will do just as well as Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars Jedi games. With Grubb confirming the involvement of former Monolith Productions VP Kevin Stephens, the industry insider believes that the Black Panther game will feature similar mechanics to the Middle-Earth series. Monolith’s Middle-Earth games have a large open-world environment and a very innovative Nemesis System. Unfortunately, Warner Bros. holds the patent for the latter, so don’t expect EA to risk a potential lawsuit by adding a similar feature to its Black Panther game. But, the Middle-Earth titles have enough non-proprietary material that Kevin Stephens can bring to the table and use for the Black Panther game. Further details about the game’s potential story suggest that players will step into the shoes of the successor of a recently deceased Black Panther. This would mirror the events of the MCU following the untimely passing of the Black Panther actor, Chadwick Boseman. Grubb didn’t clarify if players can create custom characters or if they’ll play the role of an existing hero from the comic books. We wouldn’t be surprised if EA ends up creating a character specific to this game, similar to The Hunter from Firaxis Games’ Midnight Suns game, which is coming out later this year. If Grubb’s report is true, then Marvel fans can look forward to another video game. At the moment, the only confirmed Marvel titles are Insomniac Games’ Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Marvel’s Wolverine as well as Skydance New Media’s Marvel game. As for Black Panther fans, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever just got its first trailer ahead of its theatrical premiere in November.
