Summary
According to a leaked document, Marvel may have signed a deal with Sony to exclusively developX-Mengames until 2035. The details came to light amid aransomware attack on Insomniac Games, after the studio reportedly didn’t pay ransom money to the Rhysida group. Now, a trove of documents has surfaced online to reveal much of Sony’s plans for Insomniac and Marvel titles, particularlyX-Menin the coming years.
Recent years have seen numerous gaming companies go all-in on Marvel licenses. For instance,EA and Marvel signed a three-game dealthat includes anIron Mangame as well as aBlack Panthertitle. Skydance Media also announced that it was working on a Marvel game that features Captain America and Black Panther. More recently, Bethesda unveiled that its Arkane Lyon studio is developing a Blade game.
As per leaked documents, Marvel signed a deal with Sony that gave the company exclusive rights to developX-Mengames until 2035. It says Marvel “cannot release or announce any X-Men games on console, PC, or streaming platforms” or “use an X-Men character as a competitive advantage in a game.” The documents suggest thatMarvel’s Wolverineis set to release in 2026 with Insomniac’s firstX-Mengame is slated for a 2030 release. Additionally, the documents hint at a possible third and fourth X-Men game to be out by 2035.
Incidentally, the license terms also specify that Insomniac Games is obligated to sell at least 6 million units on “PS5/PC combined of one of the three major titles in the first year” in the first year after its release on PlayStation. As part of the deal, Marvel reportedly takes a royalty cut of 35% - 50% of the wholesale price on hardware bundle sales, likely similar to theSpider-Man2 PS5 bundle. Other Marvel royalty arrangements include 9% - 18% of net sales of digital games and 19% - 26% of net sales of both physical games and DLC.
While no official announcement on anyX-Mengame has been revealed yet, it’s believed thatMarvel’s Wolverineis set as the first project in the series. So far, the Rhysida group has proceeded to leak a trove of content around the game,revealingWolverinecast details, the plot, concept art, early footage, and an alleged playable alpha build of the game. The full dataset reportedly sits at 1.67 terabytes in size and over 1.3 million files, which not only includes plans for upcoming Marvel games, but also sensitive employee information.
As of now, neither Sony nor Insomniac has released a statement on the current situation. Regardless, several video game developers have already taken to social media to offer support to Insomniac Games. Developers ranging from Wushu Studios and Remedy Entertainment, to Santa Monica’s Cory Balrog have called out the attack and expressed support for theSpider-Manmaker.
