Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra Isn’t Cancelled, Skydance Tells Staff

Skydance Games has reportedly told the team behind Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra that the game isn’t cancelled, shutting down a rumour that spread on X on Wednesday. According to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, the publisher told the development team on Slack that the game isn’t cancelled, despite a widely circulated rumour on Twitter. The denial comes as VGC, which first reported the story, and Kotaku piece together a picture of a troubled but still-living project.

How the rumour started

A fan account on X called Marvel 1943 Rise Of Hydra Countdown first posted that the game would release “in Q3 or Q4 2027”, then hours later posted a separate, now deleted claim that it had been cancelled and that an update was coming. Neither claim came with a source, and the account isn’t affiliated with Skydance or Marvel. Schreier’s post landed soon after, and he cautioned that the situation could change given the uncertainty at Skydance while its Warner Bros. acquisition settles. All he could report, he said, was what staff were told that day: development continues towards the next milestone.

Kotaku then reported that it had viewed the Slack thread. Executive producer Lu Gigliotti wrote that he’d spoken “directly” with the executive leadership team, adding: “There is no truth to these claims.” According to Kotaku, developers were also told not to let the rumour distract them, and that the studio was monitoring the situation.

A game that’s alive, but not in great shape

The reassurance comes with less comforting detail. Kotaku says the Slack post puts the game at an “Alpha” milestone later this month, though it understands the project has hit significant, repeated trouble during development. Its source describes the game as “close to done”, yet the project began as a Netflix game before moving to console and PC, and the current build is reportedly light on gameplay, leaning mainly on a single button. Kotaku’s sources also say it’s well over budget and cut back in length and content. Those are anonymous-source claims, and Skydance and Marvel haven’t commented publicly.

The timing explains why the rumour found an audience. PC Gamer reported earlier this week that Skydance’s merged games division was laying off staff, with the status of Marvel 1943 unclear. Skydance confirmed the cuts to Variety, citing “reorganization and operational shifts”. Kotaku says at least 30 people were let go and that the Marvel 1943 team doesn’t appear to have been significantly affected. The cuts arrived roughly a month after Paramount’s roughly $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery closed on 6 October, after which the combined company, Skydance, started consolidating its games teams. VGC’s earlier report lists the Marvel game among the roster folded into that structure.

What we still don’t know

The game has no release date. It was first revealed in March 2024 during an Unreal Engine showcase at GDC, and the schedule has slipped repeatedly since. It was originally set for 2025, then pushed to “early 2026” in May 2025, then to “beyond early 2026” in November 2025. In June 2026 Skydance said it wouldn’t arrive before 2027, which we covered in our report on the 2027 delay. The fan account’s “Q3 or Q4 2027” claim doesn’t match anything official.

The game, written and directed by Amy Hennig, who wrote and was creative director on the first three Uncharted games, stars Drew Moerlein as Captain America and Khary Payton as Black Panther. It’s also one of several licensed Marvel projects with a murky status: Marvel’s Blade has been the subject of its own cancellation chatter after missing an Xbox showcase, and footage of a cancelled Iron Man game leaked from Avalanche Studios. For now, Marvel 1943 sits on the right side of that line, at least according to what Skydance told its own staff.