While there are continued complaints that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is trapped in a vicious cycle of franchise fatigue, there are high hopes that 2026's Avengers: Doomsday can prove that the world's highest-grossing franchise still has the box office might it once did.

Even if you've had enough of the various MCU movies and shows, the world of Marvel video games is alive and well. Insomniac Games is sharpening its claws ahead of Marvel's Wolverine releasing on September 15, while Arkane Lyon's Marvel's Blade got a much-needed update after many feared it had been axed.

Beyond that, we've got Marvel: TOKON Fighting Souls, Motive Studio's Marvel's Iron Man, and Paramount Games Studio's Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra.

As seems all too common with Marvel Games, a period of quiet from the developers leads to scandalous reports that the game has been given the boot.

What's Going On With Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra?

Paramount Games Studio

Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra was announced way back in October 2021, but generated plenty of buzz both for its setting and the involvement of Amy Hennig. Known as the creator of Naughty Dog's Uncharted series, she's since taken up a role as creative director of the newly formed Paramount Game Studio, with Rise of Hydra being its first release.

Things have been pretty quiet since a March 2024 story trailer and a November 2025 confirmation it was being pushed "beyond early 2026," but speaking to IGN, Shawn Kittelsen, senior vice president, head of creative and production at Paramount Games Studio, assured us that things are ticking along.

"It's a game, It's happening. It's playable. I've got my SpongeBob controller here, but it's on my hard drive right now," reiterated Kittelsen.

Offering more clarity on where things are up to, he explained: "So I can go through and play the build. We're continuing development on it, but Amy and the team have big ambitions for the level of quality that they want to hit."

Saying that it's a small team trying to deliver AAA quality, Kittelsen said: "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.”

Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra Gets Disappointing Release Window

The team taking its time isn't a major issue as long as they can deliver what's been shown so far, with an ambitious story luring us in.

In terms of setting, the game takes place (unsurprisingly) in 1943 and focuses on Steve Rogers' Captain America battling the Nazi-led Hydra before he's put on ice.

This isn't just a star-spangled outing, as King Azzuri the Wise is suiting up as Black Panther. Although the MCU popularised the T'Challa era of the character through the late Chadwick Boseman's stellar performance, Azzuri had the mantle during World War II.

Looking at the popularity of Captain America: The First Avenger and the early days of Steve Rogers, Rise of Hydra is poised to make the most of this corner of history that the MCU has only dipped its toe in.

IGN also has us a new release window, confirming it won't be out until 2027 at the earliest.

Kittelsen referred to all of the disruption that has grounded the industry to a halt over the past few years, saying that the publisher had to try and build a game and a team at the same time: "Skydance New Media started from scratch during the pandemic and had to build the team and had to build their tools, and then they got to work building the game. And I think there were really ambitious timelines set for that game, but they didn't take into account all of the things that can disrupt production and that can make you spend more time working on it."

Instead of trying to push Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra out as quickly as possible, Kittelsen said they decided to "focus on the quality of the game and making sure the team has time to cook." He concluded that giving Hennig and the rest time to 'cook' was for the best: “We believe in Amy and the whole team there and supporting them, and that game will come out when it's ready. But it is very real, and we are continuing to invest in it.”

Marvel fans torn over end of the MCU as we know it

Marvel fans torn over end of the MCU as we know it

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