EA is apparently working on a lot of Disney IP video games.
Why EA Decided To Speak Out
EA Entertainment President Laura Miele addressed backlash and worries after they cancelled Marvel’s Black Panther. EA also closed the studio making it, Cliffhanger Games, at the same time. This move did not just make fans mad. It also raised questions if EA can deliver on their promises to Disney to make games with their IP.
The rumor was that Cliffhanger made too little progress on Marvel’s Black Panther. So, even if the decision was unpopular, it could have been justified. It would have been worse if EA kept it going knowing it would be going nowhere. That would have shown that EA was only in it for the money. The truth is, many licensed video games in the past turned out like that for that reason.
EA Lays Their Plans Out
Laura Miele laid out EA’s plans in a new interview with Variety. Their Disney IP games include Star Wars Jedi: 3, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Marvel’s Iron Man, and, “a few others that haven’t been announced yet.”
What Could EA Be Making?
EA has an incentive to take less risk and make sure bets. At the same time, they can’t play it too safe and end up not making any games. This is the situation that WB Games reportedly ended up in, because of their former head, David Haddad.
What EA should have learned so far is they don’t have to make their games to tie in to anything current with Star Wars, Marvel, or others. Their Star Wars Jedi games have thrived in the face of Star Wars shows taking in mixed results.
Disney is also in a strange situation with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Both Thunderbolts* (*New Avengers) and Fantastic Four: First Steps underperformed in theaters. Fantastic Four: First Steps in particular had a heartbreaking drop in ticket sales after the first week.
Because of this, some observers are mulling that there could be superhero fatigue, specifically for Marvel. Marvel Rivals, in spite of its loyal fanbase, has seen a huge dropoff from its peak at the start of this year. SteamDB’s metrics show some summer outfits can get some players back in, but they haven’t reversed the trend.
Some Strange Possibilities Beyond Star Wars And Marvel
EA could be working on games on any of Disney’s IPs, at least in theory. That could lead to some wild possibilities.
For example, Disney discreetly owned all of the Kingdom Hearts IP this whole time. So Disney could have EA make a Kingdom Hearts game if they wanted to. They don’t even have to make it with Square Enix. Of course, if Disney did greenlight it, Square Enix was probably brought in to at least consult.
Disney’s warchest of IP includes games for Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Winnie The Pooh, Pixar, Tron, as well as LucasArts’ library, and their odd original IP, Spectrobes. The world is EA’s oyster for what they think can be successful in 2025.
But with all that potential, EA probably wants to narrow it down to games that will appeal to the console game audience. Maybe they have genuine surprises to share in the next few months.
