Last week, Skydance New Media and Skydance Interactive were officially brought together under one umbrella as Paramount Skydance revealed Paramount Game Studios, with Tony Driscoll running the division and veteran creator Amy Hennig in the creative director's chair. While part of that reveal was that Hennig's Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra and untitled Star Wars game are still in the works, in an interview with IGN following the reveal, we got a timeline update for Rise of Hydra that you could probably guess, which is that it has, unsurprisingly, been delayed again.
That confirmation comes from Shawn Kittleson, who was named senior vice president, head of creative and production for Paramount Game Studios after being the senior vice president of creative at Skydance Interactive. Kittleson dug a bit into why the game has taken so long to develop, and also set expectations around when we'll hear something about that Star Wars game, which was originally confirmed all the way back in 2022.
On Rise of Hydra, Kittleson said "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. 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."
"They are a relatively small team considering the triple-A quality that they're delivering. 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 triple-A games of the same type, and really trying to push a new development model that's a lot more responsible and sustainable."
A 'more responsible and sustainable' model for Hennig's team, as Kittleson explains it, meant making a decision early on that was committed to a much longer-term plan, to avoid the kind of pitfalls that have helped make the video game industry as volatile as it currently is.
"When we see all of the disruption in the industry over the last few years, we don't want to replicate that by recreating all of the same problems," Kittleson said. "So you can build a team or you can build a game, but you can rarely build a team and a game. 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. So there was a decision made that rather than try to push the game out as quickly as possible, it would be better to focus on the quality of the game and making sure the team has time to cook. So we're giving them the time to cook. 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."
When pressed to put a date to what 'time to cook' means, Kittleson replied, "I don't think it'll be 2026," confirming that it'll be 2027 before the game might be in our hands. That makes it five years between when Hennig first teased this project and three years between when it was officially revealed.
At its 2024 reveal, it was given a 2025 release window, which was then pushed back to 2026 late last year. Kittleson's 2027 confirmation gives the game its second public delay, and it wouldn't be surprising if it's not the last one before we are finally able to play the first new game led by Hennig since 2011.
"We want to make sure that the team at New Media under Amy is set up for a great future," Kittleson continued, "and that means making sure that their debut game hits with maximum force. Better to give them time, better to give them the resources they need and make the game that really brings Amy's vision to life."
So what about that Star Wars game? "I think the best thing to think of is we've got to finish Marvel 1943," Kittleson said. "We're very much focused on that. So one thing at a time and we'll address Star Wars, talk about that when 1943 is finished. But first right now, all efforts are on 1943." Kittleson also didn't say one way or another if the Star Wars game was a lock as still happening after Marvel 1943. "That's something we'll have to talk about after 1943."
So while Kittleson isn't wrong that it's best to ensure Hennig and her team have a real grand slam on their hands rather than rush something out, the pressure it puts on Rise of Hydra to succeed only skyrockets from here. Paramount will need to see a return on all of this development time, after all. Hopefully, it'll be up to the task by the time it's out.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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