Rumors and leaks surrounding the appearance of Spider-Man in Crystal Dynamic's upcoming Marvel's Avengers have been all over the place over the last few days. An early leak suggested Spider-Man would be a PS4 exclusive for the multiplayer action game, but the intel seemed to be debunked shortly after word started to spread. Now, just a day later, an official blog post from the developer arrives to confirm that Spider-Man is coming to the game as a PS4 exclusive after all.
The title is still planning to launch with the core group of six playable Avengers characters and last week's War Table revealed that Hawkeye will be the first post-launch hero added to the game. Today's update brings confirmation of the friendly-neighborhood Spider-Man to the lineup as well and reveals that Peter Parker's alter-ego will arrive as a PlayStation exclusive in 2021. This will be Crystal Dynamics' own take on the iconic web-slinger and his arrival in Marvel's Avengers will coincide with an event full of challenges that will likely help players get acquainted with the character's primary abilities and skills.
This new take on Spider-Man has a lot of work to do in order to live up to the web-slinging that takes place in Insomniac's Spider-Man. Although there are a few minor team-up moments in Spidey's solo PS4 adventure, the real room for a different take on Spider-Man this time around comes from seeing how the character will interact with other players and their abilities. Making sure this gameplay experience feels as iconic as the New Avengers or Marvel event comic book moments when Spidey fights alongside Cap, Tony, and the rest of the Avengers sounds like it is a major priority for Crystal Dynamics...
"... Our Lead Combat Designer, is hard at work making Spider-Man just as great on the sticks as he is on the page. This means making sure our hero moves and fights like he should, no matter which one of our War Zones he finds himself in. When he’s arcing through the air on his web line, we want you to feel graceful and light, and be able to utilize a variety of web configurations and gadgets to enhance your traversal. Spider-Man’s impressive acrobatic abilities will complement the experience, allowing you to seamlessly transition from navigation to combat."
Obviously, Spider-Man will feature all the same opportunities to level up and upgrade skills throughout the game as the rest of the heroes. Hopefully in the coming months, the team will share a bit more about what Spidey's skill trees look like and what different sorts of combat approaches players will be able to take when they power up the hero.
Many PC and Xbox console fans are likely wondering how long Spider-Man will remain a PlayStation exclusive. The press release does not say "timed exclusive" explicitly, so it is unclear at this point how long it will take for the hero to make his way to other platforms... If at all. There will likely be more clarification in the coming weeks, so be sure to check back frequently for more updates, news, and strategy guides. The beta testing kicks off very soon, so lots of addition details should be on the way.
Marvel's Avengers is set to release on September 4th, for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with next-gen versions planned for PS5 and Xbox Series X.
Source: Crystal Dynamics