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Marvel's Wolverine

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This article is about the upcoming video game. For other uses, see Wolverine (disambiguation).
Marvel's Wolverine
Developer(s)Insomniac Games
Publisher(s)Sony Interactive
Entertainment
Director(s)
  • Marcus Smith
  • Mike Daly
Writer(s)
  • Mary Kenney
  • Walt Williams
  • Nick Folkman
SeriesMarvel's Spider-Man
Platform(s)PlayStation 5

Marvel's Wolverine is an upcoming video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Based on the Marvel Comics character Wolverine, it is inspired by the long-running comic book mythology, while also deriving from various adaptations in other media. Marvel's Wolverine is a standalone entry in the Marvel's Spider-Man series, telling an original, self-contained story that shares continuity with Insomniac Games' other Marvel titles.

Insomniac Games, SIE and Marvel Games entered discussions about developing further games centered on Marvel characters beyond Spider-Man during the development of Marvel's Spider-Man (2018) for PlayStation 4, with the developer expressing interest in adapting Wolverine, before pitching the title to the aforementioned parties. The game was officially announced in September 2021, alongside the confirmed involvement of creative director Brian Horton and game director Cameron Christian, who previously collaborated on Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (2020). The game is written by Miles Morales co-writer Mary Kenney, and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (2023) co-writers Walt Williams and Nick Folkman. The game was among the major subjects of a targeted ransomware attack on Insomniac Games in December 2023, which saw various development assets showcasing gameplay and story elements briefly become publicly accessible. Horton and Christian were replaced by Marcus Smith and Mike Daly in their respective roles by October 2024, reprising their duties from Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (2021).

Marvel's Wolverine is set for release on the PlayStation 5.

Plot

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Characters and setting

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Marvel's Wolverine features an ensemble cast drawn from the comic book mythology of the character, the wider X-Men mythos, and various adaptations in other media. The game follows James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine, a centuries-old mutant with retractable claws, heightened animalistic instincts and a pronounced healing factor, who is grafted with an indestructible adamantium alloy in his skeleton following intense experimentation.[1]

Development

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During the development of Marvel's Spider-Man (2018), developer Insomniac Games, Marvel Games and publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment discussed prospects for future games based on Marvel Comics properties beyond Spider-Man, with the team at Insomniac continually suggesting their desire to work on a game featuring Wolverine. The development team were drawn to the character through the similar moral compass he shares with Spider-Man, notably the fact that "both heroes feel deeply compelled to defend people who are less able to do so". Insomniac eventually elected to pitch this idea to both Marvel and Sony as their next licensed property following their successful collaboration with the two parties on developing Marvel's Spider-Man.[2]

Marvel's Wolverine was officially announced alongside Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (2023) by Insomniac Games, during the PlayStation Showcase event in September 2021. The developers shortly confirmed thereafter that the standalone game shares continuity with the Marvel's Spider-Man games.[3][4] The game's creative and game directors are Brian Horton and Cameron Christian, respectively reprising their roles from Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (2020),[4] with Horton describing the game as "full size, mature tone" in contrast to his work on that game.[5] Mary Kenney served as the game's writer with Spec Ops: The Line writer Walt Williams.[6][7] Motion capture preparation had begun by April 2022,[8] when lead animator Mike Yosh posted a photo of a motion capture soundstage on Twitter. In June 2023, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (2021) co-writer Nick Folkman revealed on Twitter that he had been simultaneously involved as a writer on both Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and Marvel's Wolverine, and that he would be completely focused on the latter now that his work on the former game had been completed.[9] Marvel's Spider-Man 2 creative director Bryan Intihar reconfirmed the game's shared continuity to the studio's Spider-Man titles in October 2023, saying "they're all 1048".[10] In September 2024, Insomniac Games' core technology director Mike Fitzgerald confirmed that Marvel's Wolverine would support enhancements made by the PlayStation 5 Pro as they were being implemented into their existing titles for the console.[11] Over the summer, Brian Horton left his role as creative director on the game to join The Initiative at Xbox Game Studios, to assume the role of creative director on the upcoming Perfect Dark reboot. Marcus Smith took over Horton's role, while Mike Daly replaced Christian as game director. The duo previously collaborated on Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (2021).[12]

2023 Rhysida hack

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In December 2023, Insomniac Games was targeted in a ransomware attack that compromised various development documents and personal employee information. Among the surfaced materials, early in-game images and concept art featuring other characters were leaked online.[13] The perpetrators of the hack, Rhysida, threatened to publish all procured images and resources obtained from the hack seven days from the incident, additionally holding an auction for the data with a starting price at 50 Bitcoin, equivalent to US$2 million. Sony Interactive Entertainment issued a statement to Video Games Chronicle stating their intent to investigate the reports surrounding the hack, but did not anticipate the incident to affect other divisions of SIE or Sony Corporation as a whole.[14] Upon the deadline's conclusion, company information including employee data, model dumps and pre-production slates for various games in development were published online at Rhysida's behest. These materials included various production assets related to Marvel's Wolverine, such as vertical gameplay slices, animation and model tests, concept art, finalized plot and character details, as well as sensitive information concerning the in-house staff and contract workers involved in the game's development, including the unintended reveal of the game's voice cast.[15][16]

In the hours following the leak, early playable builds of the game were similarly circulated online and made accessible by dataminers. Sony Interactive Entertainment responded by issuing DMCA takedown notices through internet service providers, towards any individuals who attempted to download and play using the files.[17] Insomniac Games issued a statement addressing the hack three days later, stating that the events that transpired took an "extremely distressing" emotional toll on the development teams involved in their upcoming projects, but that the data breach would not impact their development plans, including production on Marvel's Wolverine. They also thanked the community for "the outpouring of compassion and unwavering support" expressed towards the game and developer, and affirmed that they would share more details when the timing was right.[18]

The events of the hack and its unwarranted consequences for the developer were met with widespread sympathy throughout the video game industry. Developer and publisher Remedy Entertainment called unsolicited publication of employee and staff information, "truly disgraceful and shameful."[19] Remedy Entertainment writer Eric Stirpē released a separate statement, exclaiming that simply using the term "leak" did not fully describe the extent of Insomniac Games' situation, and going on to decry entertainment news outlets and social media influencers for attempting to showcase and report on illegally procured material such as the assets pertaining to Marvel's Wolverine.[20] Rami Ismail, former co-founder of the now-defunct independent studio Vlambeer expressed support towards the developers at Insomniac Games, while also observing, "This is beyond fucked up – hackers leaking game data is already really fucked up, but leaking employee data is absolutely inexcusable."[21] Encouragement was also expressed from other developers at Sony's first-party PlayStation Studios teams, such as Santa Monica Studio creative director Cory Barlog and Naughty Dog's co-president and creative head Neil Druckmann.[22][23]

Release

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Marvel's Wolverine is set for release on the PlayStation 5.[3][4]

Future

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Follow-up

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The ransomware attack on Insomniac Games in December 2023 revealed additional Marvel video games in various stages of development at the studio, including that Marvel's Wolverine is intended to act as the first game in a planned trilogy centered around the X-Men in a similar fashion to the Marvel's Spider-Man games. Furthermore, the hack confirmed the existence of a new licensing deal between Insomniac Games, publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment and Marvel, to produce X-Men video games collaboratively, on the stipulation that while X-Men characters and elements were still able to appear in other Marvel titles, Marvel would not be able to announce any licensed X-Men games from other publishers for console, PC and cloud streaming while the agreement was in effect, nor could they allow other first-party publishers such as Xbox and Nintendo to use X-Men-affiliated characters or elements in a competitive advantage for multi-platform Marvel games.[24][25]

Possible Spider-Man connections

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While promoting Marvel's Spider-Man 2 in October 2023, creative director Bryan Intihar was questioned on an IGN podcast regarding the potential to more closely connect the Marvel's Spider-Man games with Marvel's Wolverine, particularly in reference to the respective characters crossing over in future titles as they have in the comics, and making note of the inclusion of a Wolverine-themed unlockable suit for Miles Morales/Spider-Man in the former game. Intihar stated he preferred that the Wolverine team remained committed to making the game stand on its own, but did not rule out the possibility of pairing the characters in the future as they had discussed earlier in development.[26][27][28]

References

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  1. ^ Valentine, Rebekah (September 9, 2021). "Insomniac Is Making Marvel's Wolverine". IGN. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  2. ^ Schneider, Ryan (September 9, 2021). "Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and Marvel's Wolverine revealed". PlayStation.Blog. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Stanley, Alyse (September 9, 2021). "Sony Reveals New God of War 2, Spider-Man 2 and Wolverine game at PlayStation 5 showcase". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Valentine, Rebekah (September 9, 2021). "Insomniac Is Making Marvel's Wolverine". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  5. ^ Stewart, Marcus (September 13, 2021). "Marvel's Wolverine Is A 'Mature', Full-Sized Game, According To Creative Director". Game Informer. Archived from the original on September 15, 2021. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  6. ^ Kenney, Mary [@maryknews] (September 9, 2021). "***updates Twitter bio just like, real quick" (Tweet). Archived from the original on September 10, 2021. Retrieved September 10, 2021 – via Twitter.
  7. ^ Tu, Trumann (October 23, 2021). "Wolverine Game Will Be Written By Spec Ops The Line Writer". Game Rant.
  8. ^ Lang, Brad (April 22, 2022). "Marvel's Wolverine Gets Promising Development Update". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  9. ^ Folkman, Nick [@nickfolkman] (June 13, 2023). "Me this week. b/c I've wrapped up my work on Spider-Man 2 and am now writing on Wolverine! 🔪🔪🔪" (Tweet). Retrieved June 19, 2023 – via Twitter.
  10. ^ Bailey, Kat (October 27, 2023). "Insomniac Confirms Wolverine Game Is Set in the Same Universe as Spider-Man 2". IGN. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  11. ^ "PS5 Pro: Developers share how they're using new tech to enhance their games". PlayStation.Blog. September 24, 2024. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  12. ^ Totilo, Stephen. "Scoop: PlayStation's Wolverine creative director is now leading Xbox's Perfect Dark". www.gamefile.news. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
  13. ^ Tassi, Paul (December 12, 2023). "Warning: 'Wolverine' Leaks Begin After Alleged Insomniac Hack". Forbes. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  14. ^ Ivan, Tom (December 12, 2023). "Insomniac has reportedly been hacked, potentially exposing personal data and Wolverine details". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  15. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (December 19, 2023). "Insomniac Hackers Release Stolen Data, Leak Wolverine Videos, Future Projects and More". IGN. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  16. ^ D'Anastasio, Cecilia (December 19, 2023). "Sony's Video Game Plans Leaked by Ransomware Group". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  17. ^ Onder, Cade (December 21, 2023). "Wolverine Fans Warned After Playable Build Leaks Online". ComicBook.com. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  18. ^ @insomniacgames (December 22, 2023). "An update regarding Insomniac and Marvel's #WolverinePS5" (Tweet). Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Twitter.
  19. ^ @remedygames (December 19, 2023). "Our sympathies to @insomniacgames and all the affected team members. After all the effort and dedication they have poured into their games, they didn't deserve this. No one does. The hackers also leaked employee's personal information, which is truly disgraceful and shameful" (Tweet). Retrieved December 21, 2023 – via Twitter.
  20. ^ Stirpē, Eric [@stirpicus] (December 19, 2023). "What happened to Insomniac is not a "leak;" it was a malicious blackmailing by hackers that dragged people's personal info and privacy into the mix. Every outlet, every influencer, using material procured by these hackers in their own "news" and "content" should be ashamed" (Tweet). Retrieved December 21, 2023 – via Twitter.[dead link‍]
  21. ^ Ismail, Rami [@tha_rami] (December 19, 2023). "My heart goes out to everybody at Insomniac Games. This is beyond fucked up – hackers leaking game data is already really fucked up, but leaking employee data is absolutely inexcusable" (Tweet). Retrieved December 21, 2023 – via Twitter.
  22. ^ Cryer, Hirun (December 19, 2023). "Games industry reacts as Insomniac's decade-long plans for Marvel's Wolverine, Spider-Man, and more leak: "Truly disgraceful and shameful"". GamesRadar+. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  23. ^ Andersen, Kenneth (December 20, 2023). "Rival studios condemn Insomniac hack and lament being a game developer in 2023". Metro. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  24. ^ Shepard, Kenneth (December 19, 2023). "X-Men Games Will Be Sony Exclusives For More Than A Decade, Leak Reveals". Kotaku. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  25. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (December 19, 2023). "Sony Signs Deal With Marvel to Make Exclusive X-Men Games, Insomniac Cyber Security Attack Reveals". IGN. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  26. ^ Moore, Logan (October 20, 2023). "Is Wolverine in Marvel's Spider-Man 2?". ComicBook.com. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  27. ^ Moore, Logan (October 29, 2023). "Marvel's Spider-Man and Wolverine Confirmed to Take Place in Same Universe". ComicBook.com. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  28. ^ Bailey, Kat (October 27, 2023). "Insomniac Confirms Wolverine Game Is Set in the Same Universe as Spider-Man 2". IGN. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
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