Following the successful release (minus some performance issues) of the Dead Space remake, Motive Studios is now fully dedicated to the single player action/adventure Iron Man game announced in September 2022.
Not much was revealed about the project in an official capacity other than that it’ll be an entirely original story rather than an adaptation of an existing Iron Man narrative from another medium.
However, a job listing for a Senior Writer at the Montréal-based studio hints that the game may feature open world design. More specifically, under the required qualifications, the Senior Writer would have to have prior experience with open world and non-linear dialogues.
We know this is a role intended for the Iron Man team because Stephen Rhodes tweeted it while mentioning that the Senior Writer would help him write ‘the next great Iron Man story’. Rhodes has writing credits in several successful games, including The Witcher III: Wild Hunt (base game and the Blood and Wine expansion), Seven: The Days Long Gone, Vampyr, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Greedfall, Curse of the Dead Gods, and Desperados III.
Fans may have expected an open world design, given that any self-respecting Iron Man would have to include a lot of flying. Then again, Marvel’s Avengers features flying but it’s not an open world game by any stretch of the imagination, so the two aspects aren’t necessarily linked.
Many believe the flying mechanics could be outright borrowed by BioWare’s Anthem, which nailed the exhilarating feeling of flying around in a super-powered suit. However, whether that actually happens remains to be seen. It’s not like there are a ton of examples – Iron Man is featured in Marvel’s Midnight Suns, but that’s an entirely different type of game. There’s the VR game made by Camouflaj, but a virtual reality title has very different needs and objectives than a ‘pancake’ game.
Beyond Iron Man, Electronic Arts also has partnered with Marvel to create two other action/adventure games. According to rumors, a Black Panther game is being developed by a new EA studio founded by former Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor developers; there’s currently no available information on the third project.
