As you all know by now, Insomniac Games had a HUGE leak that happened to them that was honestly rather terrible. Not only did it leak out information about future titles, but it even leaked out things about the developers themselves. We don’t condone this in the slightest, and we hope that Insomniac is able to bounce back from this and ensure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again. But despite the malicious intent behind the leak, there are things to look at and wonder about. One of the biggest ones is why Insomniac is seemingly only doing Marvel-themed titles over the next several years.
On the surface, it makes sense due to how well they did with the Spider-Man character and franchise. They’ve had three hit games across two different PlayStation systems, and all of them sold well, with two being nominated for Game of the Year! But as David Jaffe noted as he dove into the linked documents and was backed up by others who looked into them as well, when it comes to non-Marvel products, Insomniac hasn’t had the best track record.
The main example is Ratchet & Clank, one of the biggest games the PS5 had in its early days. The newest title was also a Game of the Year contender and praised by fans and critics alike. The problem? Well, according to the leaked documents, they sold only 2.2 million copies, which led to them losing $8 million on the project. Yes, that’s not the biggest loss ever, but it’s still a loss for an established title.
In contrast, when the latest game with Spider-Man came out, it sold 2.5 million copies on PS5 on its first day. That’s a big difference and helped lead the game to near-instant profitability. Gamers and critics would agree that both titles are magnificent, but only one of them sold well.
So when you hear that Marvel has tasked Insomniac Games to make titles based on Venom, Wolverine, and apparently the X-Men, you can see why they would accept those jobs. First, Marvel is helping fund them, taking pressure off them. Second, they know they have a formula that works and a team that is passionate about these characters and worlds. And finally, fans will buy these games without hesitation.
That’s not to say Insomniac won’t return to making new franchises or reviving older ones. But in this gaming economy, sometimes the safest bet is the best bet.
