Insomniac Games announced two projects during the PlayStation Showcase in September 2021: Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and Marvel's Wolverine. Both have been on the back burner, but now it seems fans have an idea for when to expect the next entry in Insomniac's web-slinging franchise thanks to an unusual source. This afternoon, Venom voice actor Tony Todd replied to a fan who said Spider-Man 2 "can't come quick enough" by revealing, "Looks like September!" That window would put Peter Parker and Miles Morales on a crash-course with Bethesda's upcoming Starfield.
Though it's a somewhat antiquated concept in 2023, there are many who look at the line-up of exclusive titles coming to PlayStation and Xbox as an ongoing "console war." From a business sense, it makes sense that Sony and Microsoft continuously aim to shore up exclusive content that will encourage players to pick a side. As Sony acquires developers like Bungie, Microsoft has been busy going after studios like Activision-Blizzard or Bethesda, whose spiritual successor to The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim - in space - exclusively hits PC and the Xbox Series X/S on September 6. If Todd's tweet is accurate, this may no longer be a completely safe bet.
Starfield's 'Delay' Set Up Microsoft for a Strong Late 2023
The first major gameplay for Starfield came during the June 2022 Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase, which was billed as featuring titles that were "targeted to launch in the next 12 months." Starfield was originally going to release on November 11, 2022, before being delayed to a vague window in 2023. That June showcase suggested it would hit shelves within the first half of this year, but Bethesda announcing September 6 meant the space-exploration game was officially out of the 12-month window.
Still, fans were happy to get a concrete date, and until now Starfield has stood alone as the AAA behemoth that players will be gunning for in its September slot. Given this year is stacked with games like the Resident Evil 4 remake later this month and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in May, it helps when there isn't too much overlap so that everything gets time in the spotlight. Anticipated indie titles like Hollow Knight: Silksong could potentially appear at any moment, but blockbuster releases often want a good marketing cycle prior to launch.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is Massive Competition for Starfield
Tony Todd's Twitter post suggests it isn't too late for Marvel's Spider-Man 2 to get a big marketing push, even if Insomniac Games hasn't given any indication as to its release window beyond fall 2023 in a PlayStation Blog post from December 2022. Todd said, "Massive publicity coming in august. Commercials start dropping in august so I'm told."
There's certainly benefits to holding off info dumps until the last month, as this makes it more likely that fans will get their hands on Spider-Man 2 without a lot of trailers to spoil crucial plot details. While the word of one voice actor should be taken with a grain of salt (neither Insomniac Games nor Sony have put out a statement as of this writing), September does seem like a good time for the PS5 to get its next big exclusive before Insomniac devotes full attention to Wolverine.
For those players who have yet to choose a "side" in Sony and Microsoft's ongoing conflict, September could now be an inflection point. Whether people spend potentially hundreds of hours exploring over 1,000 planets in Bethesda's open-world adventure game, or swing around an intricately detailed New York as multiple web-slinging superheroes who may tackle their biggest narrative challenges yet, is up to each individual. But unlike Hogwarts Legacy, which was a massive cross-platform success, this battle of console-exclusive titans will undoubtedly polarize those who haven't shelled out for a complete media center.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 reportedly releases in September 2023 for PS5