Marvel’s WWII Game Not Canceled, but Sounds Like a Mess, Insiders Say

Published Nov 12, 2026, 10:18 AM EST Elijah is a freelance news writer at Polygon. He was an associate editor at The A.V. Club and Paste, and has been featured in outlets like Game Informer, Fanbyte, Unwinnable, and more. He loves media in all forms, from fighting games and horror flicks to slow cinema and visual novels. He's from the Greater Boston area. Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra survived the first Skydance purge Image: Skydance New Media/Plaion Sign in to your Polygon.com account One of the biggest upcoming Marvel games has lived to fight another day. According to an X post from Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra has not been canceled, despite rumors to the contrary. About 30 Paramount Games employees were laid off following the merger between Warner Bros. and Paramount. Skydance is also offering employee buyouts as it looks to downsize and require staff to return to the office five days a week. While Paramount Games Studio's long-in-development Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra seemed like it might be a casualty of Skydance’s sweeping changes, Schreier wrote on X that “Skydance Games told the development team behind Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra on Slack this afternoon that the game is not canceled, despite a widely circulated rumor on Twitter today claiming that it was.” Kotaku corroborated this claim based on a message from Skydance executive producer Lu Gigliotti. “Of course, this situation could very well change given the uncertainty across Skydance as the WB acquisition unfolds,” Gigliotti posted on Skydance Slack. “All I can definitively report right now is what the company told staff today, which is that development continues as they work toward their next milestone.” What is the history of Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra? Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra was first announced in 2021. It is co-produced and co-written by former Naughty Dog employee Amy Hennig, who created the Uncharted series and directed several Legacy of Kain games. After leaving Naughty Dog in 2014, Hennig joined Visceral Games to work on an untitled Star Wars game. EA shuttered Visceral in 2017 and Hennig joined Skydance Media in 2019. Skydance first revealed it was working on a new Marvel action-adventure game in 2021, clarifying in 2022 that it would star Captain America and Black Panther. A 2024 update announced the title, Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, and that it would be based on Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of Our Father, a 2010 limited comic series from Reginald Hudlin and Denys Cowan.The game follows Steve Rogers and the Black Panther Azzuri as they team up in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. The game was originally planned for a holiday 2025 release, but was then delayed to early 2026. In June 2026, the launch was postponed to 2027 at the earliest. Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra was originally pitched as a Netflix game, so it is light on interaction and primarily uses one button. It transitioned to a console and PC title mid-development, and the length and scope were scaled back. Itis reportedly over budget but close to complete.