There was a lot to be excited about following the PlayStation Showcase. Sony’s latest event included footage of God of War: Ragnarok, the announcement of the Knights of the old Republic Remake, and new footage of Forspoken. However, it was Insomniac Games that truly stole the show. With the back-to-back announcements of Marvel’s Wolverine and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, the developer has fans excited about the future.
Insomniac Games is clearly a powerhouse for Sony, as the developer has been on a massive hot streak over the past few years. Based on its two new announcements, and the games that it has released for the PS5 thus far, it seems like this generation of consoles have the studio busier than it has ever been before. While this is exciting for gamers, it is hard not to worry about potential crunch time for the talented and hardworking developers at Insomniac.
Insomniac Games’ Busy Schedule
Insomniac shocked gamers when it announced both Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. In the case of the former, it was a launch title for the new system, while the latter released only six months later. Both of these games followed the original Marvel’s Spider-Man in 2018, with Insomniac releasing three major games in just four years. The developer does not seem to be slowing down, either.
While the newly announced Marvel’s Wolverine lacks a release date, the next Marvel’s Spider-Man game is set to launch in 2023. This is an extremely quick turnaround from Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and it also seems like Insomniac will be working on Marvel's Wolverine at the same time. On top of this, there is an unannounced multiplayer game from Insomniac that is currently in the works, meaning that there are three different games being actively developed by the Sony-owned studio.
Considering all the reports of excessive crunch in the video game industry, it is hard not to worry about Insomniac dealing with similar issues due to all these projects. Plenty has been said about the crunch time at Naughty Dog, Rockstar Games, CD Projekt Red, and other big studios. As such, it makes sense that some are concerned about Insomniac continuing to release games back-to-back. While the output is impressive and means that players will be getting their hands on several great games from the studio this generation, it is hard not to worry about the stress that could be put on the developer. Fortunately, it seems like Insomniac is going to be perfectly fine.
Why Insomniac Games Will Likely Be Able To Handle Its Large Workload
While Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is an impressive game because of its visuals and clever use of the DualSense controller’s features, perhaps the most surprising thing about it is that it was made with minimal crunch. After release, multiple Insomniac developers said that Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart’s development was crunch-free. This was a refreshing change from all the horror stories that have come out regarding game development in recent years, and it shows that the studio is careful not to overwork its employees.
It is also worth noting that Insomniac Games is a large company with over 400 employees and two studios. This is important to keep in mind, as there are two different teams working on Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Marvel’s Wolverine. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is being developed by most of the same team that worked on the original game, with Brian Intihar and Ryan Smith returning as Creative and Game Directors respectively. Marvel’s Wolverine is being developed by the team behind Spider-Man: Miles Morales, with Brian Horton as Creative Director and Cameron Christian as Game Director. This means that both games will be on their own schedules and that developers are not overworking themselves by jumping between two projects. As such, Insomniac fans should not have to worry about the quality of games or, more importantly, the health of the developers.