During Sony’s E3 2016 press conference the company announced that Insomniac is making a new Spider-Man game. At present, the game doesn’t even have an official title, but we’ve got some juicy new details that should help shed some light on what Insomniac, Sony and Marvel have planned for the future of Spider-Man games. While there’s some good news and a bit of bad news, rest assured that everyone’s favorite Marvel hero is in good hands.
Jay Ong is the head of Marvel Games, and he had quite a bit to say about Spider-Man and future Marvel properties in the gaming realm. His team won’t be touching on the successful mobile platform, they are focused exclusively on console gaming, which means PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and potentially the Nintendo NX. You also won’t see any games tied directly to films. While there’s a decent chance we could see the new Spider-Man game release around the same time as Spider-Man: Homecoming hits theaters, or even a Homecoming DLC character skin, the two are completely unique in every other way.
With each new Marvel console game having a full development cycle and a story that does not tie into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, things are already looking up. However, don’t expect to see Spider-Man games from multiple developers on multiple platforms. Sony and Insomniac have exclusive rights to Spider-Man games for the time being. Activision won’t be making a Spider-Man game, and you won’t see Spider-Man games on any non-Sony platforms. Similar deals will be in place for other big Marvel properties, but the details have yet to be unveiled. The Hulk’s green would certainly match the Xbox though.
It’s safe to say that most people weren’t a fan of the previous Spider-Man games (aside from maybe Spider-Man 2). A lot of the problems from the previous games stemmed from a middle of the road developer having a short development cycle. With all upcoming Marvel console games, the developers will have to prove they can deliver compelling games. Insomniac is a great example of this with the popular Ratchet and Clank series, so expect similar developers to take on future games.
There are other games in development by other famed developers, but don’t expect to hear about them anytime soon. The announcements will come when Marvel and its partners are ready to talk. For now just know that each Marvel console game will have the quality you’d expect from other AAA games. Spider-Man was announced very early, but don’t expect that to be a trend. The next Marvel game announced will likely have a title to go along with it.
