Spider-Man was almost exclusive to the Xbox, but they refused

An interview with Marvel executives reveals the breakup of Activision as a distributor, and how Microsoft's refusal led them to rival Sony, and one of the console's best-selling titles

Giving in Nishi

23/05/2022

Monday, 23 May 2022, 19:25 Updated: 19:27

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Spider-Man 2018 (Playstation)

The Spider-Man game for the PlayStation 4 released in 2018 is considered one of Spider-Man's most successful games and one of Sony's most exclusive and successful titles, but now it's revealed to us that the situation could have looked completely different.

It turns out that before the character found itself in the hands of Sony and Insomniac Games, Marvel executives also offered the Xbox to develop a game starring Spider-Man - but it refused.

This news comes to us from an interview that took place in the book

, where the president of the Marvel gaming division,

, elaborated on the history of Spider-Man games over the years.

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Microsoft gave up on the opportunity to make Spider-Man its own exclusive brand (Photo: Official Website, Playstation)

Our story takes place in 2014 which until then Spider-Man games were distributed by Activision and developed by a number of its developers, and although it has released some great Spider-Man games over the years (Spider-Man 2 for PlayStation 2, Ultimate Spider-Man, Web of Shadows and Shattared Dimension Jump straight to the top), she also received quite a bit of criticism.

Marvel has complained that Activision is primarily concerned with "selling" the product rather than polishing it and giving it the proper care.

Jay Young explains that Marvel were not happy with the quality of Spider-Man games at the time and they are not getting the same success they are having with their movie universe in cinema, especially if she looks at her past games like Marvel vs.

Their Capcom or Ultimate Alliance was a devout fan base, and they do not experience this with Activision.

After the two agreed to end the contract between them, Activision executives asked Marvel what they intend to do with their brand now that it is back in their hands, to which Ong claims he replied, "

."

Her sarcastic statement Activision did not remain obligated and responded back:

The beautiful era of Spider-Man games under Activision: Spider-Man 2, Ultimate Spider-Man, Web of Shadows and Shattered Dimensions (Photo: Walla !, Activision)

We needed a distributor who did not adopt the "crappy-licensed-game" mentality

("crappy licensed game" quote, do not shoot a courier) and a company with a long-term vision that would benefit from investing in the brand. This partner must have talent, commitment to quality, and pockets (Financial) deep. "

Jay Young explained that there were only three distributors in the industry that met these criteria: Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, and since Nintendo mainly promotes its own brands, they turned to the other two to find a better partner for Spider-Man who might also want an exclusive contract and develop games. Exclusive.

This offer turns out to be, Microsoft refused because it

Ong went on to say that he then sat down with two producers from Sony's third-party developer (Adam Boyce and John Drake) and explained to them his vision for the Spider-Man games: That will attract the players to your platform. "

From there the offer went to Sony executives who offered him to make Spider-Man an exclusive Sony AAA title, and the results of this deal we already know.

After Microsoft refused, Spider-Man found his home at Insomniac Games (Photo: Official Website, Playstation)

Spider-Man found himself in the talented hands of Insomniac Games (which at the time was not acquired by Sony) and even then was considered "one of the senior partnerships" that developed one of Sony's most successful and best-selling exclusive titles, as well as an amazing Spider-Man game and superhero. Arkham.

And what do you know?

The move worked perfectly for her and quite a few players purchased a console specifically for Spider-Man (or other exclusives like him) like your loyal servant, who for the most part considers himself a PC Master Race and not a console player.

It's reminiscent of a similar story Microsoft had with GTA, and it's very hard to imagine what would happen if Xbox said "yes" and who was the developer who would take on the big responsibility of developing a game about Spider-Man, but it's hard to think we would get the same amazing gaming experience -Insomiac was able to provide.

Especially because we know that with great power comes great responsibility, or something like that.

I do not think there is morality here.

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Tags

• Gaming

• Spiderman

• Sony

• XBox

• PlayStation

• Microsoft