Following a recently posted job opening, Sony Senior Vice President Sadahiko Hayakawa seemed to confirm that more of the company’s games will be offered for platforms beyond PS4 and PS5. That’s not a total surprise based on everything we’ve seen over the last few years. Sony started a slow path towards a multiplatform strategy by releasing its games on PC a few years ago, before eventually bringing PlayStation brands to Nintendo Switch. The last barrier seemed to fall when the company announced a version of Helldivers 2 for Xbox Series X|S. We don’t know which PlayStation games will come to other platforms next, but there is one candidate that makes the most sense, and that’s Marvel’s Spider-Man.
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Released on PS4 in 2018, Marvel’s Spider-Man was a huge deal upon release. A critical and commercial success, the Insomniac developed game spawned DLC, a spin-off, and a numbered sequel. On top of all that, it also created a distinct take on the Marvel Universe that the developers plan on building upon in the future; not only is there a third Marvel’s Spider-Man game in the works, but Insomniac is also currently developing Marvel’s Wolverine. Right now, there is a version of the Marvel Universe that is exclusively accessible on PlayStation and PC.
In the years since Marvel’s Spider-Man was released, both Marvel and Sony have found ways to grow out that universe. Not only has the Insomniac take on Spider-Man shown up in Sony’s Spider-Verse films, but we’ve even seen the game’s take on Peter Parker adapted to the Marvel comics, where he’s played a key role in some crossover events. Perhaps the smartest move the companies made was giving Insomniac’s Spider-Man his own unique costume design with that trademark white spider. A lot of fans didn’t like it at first, but now it appears all over clothing and other merchandise, and it’s even obtainable in Marvel Rivals. It’s impossible to overstate what a big deal this game has been for both PlayStation and Marvel over the last seven years.
For all of those reasons, Marvel’s Spider-Man would be a really smart game for PlayStation to bring to Xbox, and possibly Nintendo Switch 2 as well. Spider-Man is one of the biggest superheroes on the planet, and bringing his game to other platforms simply makes sense from a marketing standpoint. Batman’s Arkham games weren’t exclusive to other platforms, and Spider-Man’s games shouldn’t be exclusive either. These are iconic characters beloved by people around the world. While Spider-Man fans can see him show up in lots of games outside of Insomniac’s series, PlayStation has the exclusive rights to create solo games based on the character. That means if you’re an Xbox owner who loves Spider-Man, you have to stick to ensemble games like Marvel’s Midnight Suns and the upcoming Marvel Cosmic Invasion. You can’t even play old Spider-Man games released by Activision on Xbox or Nintendo systems, likely as a result of the deal between Marvel and Sony.
From Sony’s perspective, Spider-Man would be a more logical choice to bring to other platforms before any other game. The company could bring over titles like Days Gone instead, but that’s just not going to have the same widespread appeal; the pool of Xbox players that care about Deacon St. John coming to the platform is going to be a lot smaller than the number that are excited about the prospect of seeing Peter Parker. One is a cultural icon that has been around for more than 60 years, and the other is unlikely to ever appear in another video game again (sorry Days Gone fans, but it’s the truth). That’s not to say PlayStation shouldn’t also port over games beyond Spider-Man, but it’s the one that makes the most sense from an investment standpoint.
That brings us to the financial aspect of all this: the Spider-Man games cost a lot of money to develop. Development costs on AAA games have ballooned over the last decade, making it harder and harder for companies to justify keeping games walled off as exclusives. The Spider-Man games have been great sellers for Sony, but it’s safe to assume those profits are getting split with Marvel. Sony is probably making more than enough money to justify developing additional Spider-Man video games, but bringing them to additional platforms means a better chance at recouping costs.
Time will tell if PlayStation sees the financial and logical incentives to bring Marvel’s Spider-Man to other platforms. On top of everything else, it’s a good game, and it could give Sony a reason to bring over Insomniac’s follow-ups. That’s a lot of potential revenue, and there’s good reason for Marvel to push for it happening, just as the MLB once pushed to get The Show ported to Nintendo and Xbox platforms. There are other PlayStation games that also make sense to bring to multiple platforms (The Last of Us for sure), but it’s long past time that players on Xbox and Switch 2 got a chance to swing as Spidey.
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Image Courtesy of Paramount -
Image Courtesy of Big Finish Productions.
