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Insomniac hacks reveal Marvel's Spider-Man 3, an X-Men game, multiplayer projects, and even more

41K View2023-12-20

Sony-owned developer Insomniac Games has had a pretty good year, what with the release of the much-loved Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and increasing hype for the previously announced Marvel's Wolverine (image from the trailer above). 2023 is ending on a bit of a frustrating note for Insomniac, though, albeit one that will just make gamers more hype: A massive leak has revealed no less than six upcoming games from the studio, several of which are unannounced.

These leaks come courtesy of a massive data hack against Insomniac by a ransomware group known as Rhysida. Last week the group announced that it had breached Insomniac Games' internal data and threatened to release what they found unless Sony paid them 50 BTC (just over $2 million). Sony apparently refused, and today Rhysida made good on their threats, releasing 1.67 terabytes of data.

The most interesting information included in this leak was a list of upcoming Insomniac-developed games and the year they're intended to be released. Here's what is apparently planned for the next five-plus years of Insomniac games:

2024: Spider-Man 2 Online - It's unclear what exactly the online element will be here, but this is the first of multiple online projects listed in this roadmap.
2025: Venom: Lethal Protector - Reportedly this game will be similar to Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, offering a shorter eight- to ten-hour experience that builds on the core elements of Spider-Man 2. It will also supposedly lead in to a third Spider-Man game from Insomniac. The leak suggests it is planned for a Q2 2025 release and will retail for $49.99.
2026: Marvel's Wolverine - This was previously announced in 2021 and will see players jumping into the shoes of Marvel's most popular mutant. The leak also included tons of spoilers on Wolverine that we'll avoid here, including a list of characters and locations, a rundown of the plot, and even a build of the game.
2026: Wolverine Online - Another multiplayer spin-off of some sort!
2028: Marvel's Spider-Man 3 - A third entry in the popular Spider-Man series of games from Insomniac is a given at this point, but this is the first we've heard about just when we might expect it. One other interesting note from the leak is that one document suggests Spider-Man 3 could actually be split into two parts, sort of like the recent Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse film. This plan, if it comes to fruition, would reportedly see Marvel's Spider-Man 3 Part One launching in 2027 (including a multiplayer mode), Part Two in 2028, and a single product combining both parts in 2029. It'll be interesting to see if Insomniac and Sony actually decide to pursue that experiment.
2029: the next Ratchet & Clank game - Insomniac has moved on to bigger things with all these Marvel games, but it's apparently not forgetting its roots either. The leak says the developer is working on a follow-up to 2021's excellent Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. This would mark the tenth mainline Ratchet & Clank game, not including 2010's remake of the first game.
2030: Marvel's X-Men - Arguably the biggest news out of this leak, the Wolverine solo game is apparently set to lead in to a full X-Men team game. The leak includes the actual licensing contract Sony signed with Marvel, which suggests multiple games planned with a $120 million development budget for each and all of the games intended to launch by 2035. The leaks also include plans for an X-Men Online, but that's listed as a 2028 release, which would put it before the actual main game. If that doesn't make sense to you, you're correct! It's a good reminder that this information may be out of date or unreliable, since it was not meant for the public.
2031/2032: untitled new IP - This could be anything, but it's good to know that Insomniac is at least getting the opportunity to work on something original and not just Marvel stuff!
2035: second untitled new IP game - Same as above!

Once again, it's worth stressing that these are leaks and were never intended to be seen by the public. As such, all these dates and even the specific projects are internal estimates only. It's entirely possible—likely even!—that many of these games will release later than is listed here, especially given how aggressive this schedule is. And it's also possible some of them will be canceled or never see the light of day.

While these leaks are likely extremely demoralizing to the developers at Insomniac, hopefully they can take some solace in how excited they're sure to make gamers. Insomniac has grown from a small studio working on mascot platformers like Spyro the Dragon and Ratchet & Clank to what is arguably one of the biggest developers in the industry and one of the most important to Sony specifically. If even a fraction of the games from this leak end up being realized, that prestige is only going to grow from here.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a lot like Peter Parker: flawed, sometimes awkward, but still lovable

https://m.taptap.io/post/6478939

We'll keep an eye out and update you here on TapTap if and when each of these projects are announced officially. In the mean time, stay safe and remember that with great power comes great responsibility. Excelsior!