A sad, recurring trend that continues to happen in the gaming space is developers announcing big-name titles featuring characters or franchises that everyone knows, then not talking about them for years. On the one hand, you can understand how publishers/developers want to at least “put the word out there” for fans to be excited, but you can also see the fan perspective of having to wait a LONG time just to get the tiniest bit of information for a game they want to play sooner rather than later. In the case of Marvel’s Wolverine, that wait is continuing on, and Insomniac Games is in a weird position to boot.
As noted by Variety, the company has undergone a shift in leadership. Its longtime CEO is stepping down after 30 years, and three former execs are now to be “co-chiefs” of the company going forward. That alone is cause for discussion, as you have to wonder, “Why now?” and how this might affect the company going forward. Insomniac is undoubtedly one of Sony’s most consistent 1st party developers. The team has produced multiple big-name titles over the years and has been with Sony through most of its console lineup. Plus, when given unique tasks with new franchises, such as when they were given the keys to Spider-Man’s universe, they absolutely crushed it.
Yet, when one of those new studio heads was asked about Marvel’s Wolverine, they only had this to say:
“We’ve announced ‘Wolverine,’ and we’d love to talk more about ‘Wolverine,’ but we have to be like Logan today, and remain very stoic until it’s time to pop the claws down the road. As much as we’re as much as we have pent up excitement, we got to hold on to it. So that’s, that’s about as much as we could say about our upcoming projects today.”
That’s not enlightening or even a true tease. Recall that this game was truly announced years ago via the teaser trailer of Logan in a bar. Since then, we’ve gotten nothing. To be fair, there was a leak that happened in the company that seemed to point to how the game would be, but the team didn’t confirm that in any way. The fact that things have been silent for so long gives us, and likely many gamers, pause.
After all, between this and the lack of DLC support for its other Marvel title, it’s unclear what Insomniac is doing next, and that’s worrying.