Amid multiple delays and radio silence, a rumor that Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra had been canceled began circulating this week. Developer Skydance quickly said the game is on track and nearly done—but it might not be what you expect.
According to Kotaku, executive producer Lu Gigliotti told Skydance employees that he had spoken with the studio’s executive leadership team, and that the game had not been canceled. “They asked me to make sure you all hear that directly. There is no truth to these claims,” Giglotti reportedly wrote in the Skydance Slack group. Kotaku added that the game is approaching its Alpha milestone and is “close to done,” but after reportedly running significantly over budget, the vision for this project has been scaled back. Marvel 1943 was also originally envisioned as a Netflix game before it was announced for PC and consoles, but most of its action is apparently mapped to a single button, and it’s “lacking significant interaction” during gameplay.
Essentially, the game might be structurally similar to Quantic Dream’s interactive stories like Detroit: Become Human, rather than a meaty brawler like Insomniac’s Spider-Man games. “We’re continuing development on it, but Amy and the team have big ambitions for the level of quality that they want to hit. They are a relatively small team considering the AAA quality that they’re delivering,” senior executive Shawn Kittelsen said earlier this year about the game’s lengthy development. “What you’ve seen in previous footage is what the game looks like, and we’re making it with a fraction of the resources that you see on other AAA games of the same type, and really trying to push a new development model that’s a lot more responsible and sustainable.”
First announced in 2022 and fully revealed in 2024, Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra drew attention for its good-looking graphics and a storyline featuring multiple characters, including Captain America and Black Panther. The new report comes in the wake of layoffs at Skydance’s parent group, Paramount Games Studio, which is also changing following Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. While live-service Marvel games like Marvel Rivals and Marvel Snap continue to draw in players, the same can’t be said for the big-budget Wolverine game that was released earlier this year. Despite a strong start in September, the game quickly lost momentum and has sold 2.4 million units so far.
