Marvel Console Games Avoiding The Marvel Cinematic Universe

When Sony announced their new Spider-Man PlayStation 4 project, fans were excited to see a new interpretation. Many expected for a new Marvel game to be intertwined with Marvel's Cinematic Universe in some way, but according to Head of Marvel Games Jay Ong, the division is actually going in the opposite direction.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Ong spoke about the status of Marvel's publishing relationship with previous license holder Activision.

"We've had a long history of success with Activision, and we still have a great relationship with them," Ong said. "But the future of the Spider-Man console games is with Sony and Insomniac. We're delighted about this partnership, and that's something that's going to continue forward. With [regard to] other console partners, stay tuned. There's many more interesting additional things to come. But Activision is in the past, with regards to Spider-Man."

Activision has been the rights holder through multiple Spider-Man games, with varying amounts of quality from release to release. The new relationship with Sony and Insomniac is made all the easier with both being so close to Marvel's offices (via VentureBeat), saying: "They're actually only 10 minutes away from us, physically. So is Sony. It's an amazing coincidence, and very lucky. We're at their offices and they're at ours. It's a very close collaboration."

Ong also remarked on the new approach to their Marvel characters when it comes to video games. Their focus is not on tieing a project into an upcoming film, but rather attempting to create a unique story and world for their characters to thrive in. That pitch has attracted a great deal of interest, including developer Insomniac.

"When we tell people that they aren't just building a movie game, that opens up their eyes. "You mean we have the freedom to invest and deliver the title that we want to deliver?" They don't have to meet some artificial date. We give them time. We initiate projects far earlier than we used to."

Spider-Man looks to be in Insomniac's hands for the long haul, and Marvel seems to have learned from its film division what patience and attention to the character can reward you with. Hopefully, we'll see the same approach given to the rest of their vast library of characters in the future.