After several months of radio silence, PS5 exclusive Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 may have had its release month outed thanks to one of the game’s voice actors.
The runway for PS5 exclusive games is looking a little dry right now. Sure, PlayStation absolutely dominated 2022 with major AAA exclusives like Horizon Forbidden West and God of War Ragnarok both releasing to critical acclaim. But other than Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, we don’t really have an idea what this year entails by way of first-party studios.
That’s now changed somewhat thanks to Tony Todd, the voice actor who is set to play Spider-Man villain Venom in Insomniac’s upcoming superhero sequel, seemingly breaking embargo. In response to a fan on Twitter he said – in a now-deleted tweet – that Spider-Man 2’s release month “looks like September”. News outlet VGC has since confirmed its heard plans for the same release window.
In addition to allegedly confirming Spider-Man 2’s release month, Todd said to expect “massive publicity coming in August,” to help build up hype for the game. “Commercials start dropping in August so I’m told. Hold on to your … and hold breath! Gonna be necessary,” he added.
Insomniac previously announced its plans to release Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 in Fall 2023 back in a PlayStation Blog post back in December. If Todd’s recent comments are to be believed, Insomniac has shifted its timeline massively in the months since, leaving us to question whether or not Sony has an equally substantial first-party PS5 exclusive planned for later in the year.
Just keep swinging
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is easily one of my most anticipated AAA games of the year. Because while Xbox has also set a September date for Starfield, there’s no doubt in my mind that Bethesda’s ambitious RPG will suffer from more than a few teething issues at launch – judging by the studio’s previous releases. Insomniac, by comparison, has a great track record for releasing polished games. Couple this with the fact that it’s launched two amazing Spider-Man games (see what I did there) already, and there’s no reason to doubt its upcoming sequel will be great.
That said, with Spider-Man 2 supposedly releasing in September, my thoughts instantly go to what PlayStation has planned for PS5 later in the year. Leaving the November/December holiday period barren would be suicide, and yet there’s been no word yet on which first-party franchise is next to step up to the plate after Spider-Man 2.
We’ll likely hear more about what PlayStation has planned for the end of 2023 in some sort of summer showcase, but I doubt it’ll be anything The Last of Us, Ratchet & Clank or Uncharted related. If there’s going to be a big PS5 exclusive releasing this holiday, my hopes are on a Ghost of Tsushima sequel as developer Sucker Punch hasn’t been heard from in some time.
