Xbox Reportedly Turned Down Marvel's Offer To Make Exclusive Games
A huge part of PlayStation's success in the past decade has been fueled by its exclusives. The Last of Us, God of War, and perhaps most notably, Spider-Man. Insomniac's PS4 exclusive arrived in 2018 and became an instant hit, selling more than 20 million copies. History could have been so very different though, as apparently, Microsoft and Xbox were approached by Marvel Games at the same time as Sony, but the PlayStation rival turned them down.
That's according to The Ultimate History of Video Games Volume 2. The details surrounding Marvel's deal with Sony, and Microsoft passing up, have been shared on ResetEra. When Jay Ong was hired to be Marvel's VP of games in 2014, his first challenge was to figure out why the MCU's box office clout hadn't been echoed in the video game world. While there had certainly been beloved Marvel games that had sold well, there was nothing doing massive numbers.
RELATED: There Better Not Be A Live-Action Spider-Man Waiting For Us In Beyond The Spider-Verse
Ong passed on approaching Nintendo since it primarily focuses on its own IP and got in touch with PlayStation and Xbox. Pitching a vision that included at least one Marvel game that could rival the quality and popularity of the Arkham series, Microsoft passed on the opportunity to have future Marvel games on board as Xbox exclusives, citing that it was focusing on its own IP at the time.
Sony took Marvel up on the offer, turned the project over to Insomniac, and work began on the first Spider-Man game. Even though like Xbox, Insomniac tended to focus more on its own projects than working on pre-existing IP, games like Sunset Overdrive convinced those who put the power in Insomniac's hands that it was the right studio for the job.
There was
Read more on thegamer.com
