890°

Marvel's Avengers Team Addresses Spider-Man's PlayStation Exclusivity

In a new interview with Crystal Dynamics Co-Head Scot Amos, the topic of Spider-Man's PlayStation exclusivity came up, particularly in regard to how some on other platforms might feel about not having access to Spidey. While Amos knows some will be bummed, the relationship between Sony and Marvel is one of the biggest reasons Spidey is in the game at all.

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RazzerRedux1353d ago

"when it comes down to choices of where and what Spider-Man can be, that's a relationship question that PlayStation absolutely has the rights to, that as you guys know, with Sony's ownership there, and Marvel with Sony saying, 'Hey, this is something we can do. This is something we can do on this platform.'"

The plot thickens....

potatoseal1353d ago

"the relationship between Sony and Marvel is one of the biggest reasons Spidey is in the game at all."

DigitalHope1353d ago

It’s all part of getting Spidey into the MCU. Like it or hate it, Sony is absolutely leveraging its entertainment IP rights to the advantage in other divisions. It’s a smart move.

VenomUK1353d ago (Edited 1353d ago )

Format exclusives are part of the industry and they aren’t going to go away. What surprises me most about all of this is that at the last game conference Sony’s business competitor also announced third-party timed exclusives like Yakuza Like a Dragon and that’s a whole game, whilst Spider-Man is just a single dlc character so that could be viewed as a bigger deal. So judging by the big reaction it shows that a lot of gamers must really love Spider-Man.

Whilst there has been some criticism of Sony I think the hullabaloo actually works in its favour because it underlines that if you want to play as Spider-Man on console then the only place you can do that is on PlayStation, and with the Miles Morales game coming out that works as free PR for PS5.

1353d ago
CobraKai1353d ago

It’s a collaborative effort on both Sony and Marvel. Marvel has the gaming rights to the character. They are the ones who can decide if Spider-Man appears where, but they also have a partnership with Sony to use the character which started when Insomniac chose to use Spidey in their PS4 game. I think the question is what is the extent of that partnership?

WelkinCole1352d ago

@Digital. Which is perfectly fine. Sony has been very fair to Marvel with regards to Spidey.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 1352d ago
porkChop1353d ago

That doesn't even make sense. Movie rights ownership has no bearing on video games. The merchandising rights which includes games, comics, etc., belong to Marvel. If they were using Insomniac's version of the character, or the movie version, this would make sense. But they aren't.

If Sony had ownership then we wouldn't see Spiderman popping up in other games like MUA3.

RazzerRedux1353d ago (Edited 1353d ago )

"Movie rights ownership has no bearing on video games. "

Unless the deal Disney and Sony made last year had a contingency agreement than spanned over into video games. In which case, MUA3 was prior to that agreement. Pure speculation on my part, but is this really out of the realm of possibilities? I don't think so. Otherwise, is the CD guy just making this all up? This is the first concrete statement made that points to Sony having "ownership" of Spider-Man (at least in some fashion) in video games unless some clarification is given.

neutralgamer19921353d ago

Chop

How do you know ever since signing that deal we haven't seen spiderman in any game and Sony has went above and beyond in promoting the IP

Marvel wanted to use the IP so it's not far fetched to think they let Sony have the gaming rights it's a win win

ABizzel11353d ago

I assume the Spider-Man character is pretty much 50/50 at this point with Sony and Marvel. We know Sony owns the movie rights and Marvel wants those rights or at least to share them, so they are willing to make deals with Sony on the Spider-Man property in other formats where it makes sense and they don't care about.

Disney isn't a huge presence in gaming anymore, they simply license their IP's out to 3rd parties, so if Sony approached them and said we want Spider-Man exclusive on this game, I'm sure Disney had no problem with it, because it's a gesture of good faith to continue the shared relationship of the IP.

This is what makes the most sense.

Now if I were Sony I would go ahead and give them the majority shared movie rights for the next 10 years, in exchange for the rights to the Marvel game IP's for next 10 years. Disney wants to really push Spider-Man, and Sony really wants to push PlayStation which is a bigger brand for them right now.

They still get paid on the Marvel Spider-Man movies, but they now have the opportunity for a ton of new games and exclusives:

Spider-Man 2
Iron Man VR 2
Marvel's Avengers 2
X-Men MMORPG
Thor & The Guardians of The Galaxy
Hulk (open-world destruction)
Weapon X: Wolverine vs Deadpool
Black Panther (Batman Arkham style game)
Doctor Strange (RPG)
Marvel vs Capcom 5

10 years of movie rights, for 10 games that are all easily +2 million sellers, up to +10 million sellers, and just the announcement of this deal guaranteeing you a huge boost to console sales, it's worth it.

cooperdnizzle1353d ago

Sony made a deal to own the IP not just the movies rights. This has been common knowledge for a very long time. Sony and marvel have a partnership with that character. End of story.

Baza1353d ago

Dude it’s about the RELATIONSHIP Sony has with Marvel. Technically Marvel has the video game rights and they can do whatever they want. Looks like they are on board with Sony having Spiderman as PS exclusive. This is one of the benefits of good relationships in business

dumahim1353d ago

We don't know the details of their arrangement. Activision had exclusive rights until 2014. It's very possible Sony has made a separate agreement for the video game rights as well.

RaiderNation1353d ago (Edited 1353d ago )

Well does this make sense then? Sony wanted Spiderman in Marvel's Avengers, they wanted him exclusive to their platform to entice more gamers to play it on that platform, and whatever channels Sony had to go through to make that happen, they did! What else really is there to know?

morganfell1353d ago (Edited 1353d ago )

Occam's Razor comes to mind. Yet some people are going out of their way to create some convoluted explanation that flies in the face of evidence and logic. I have stated this numerous times and Razzer has reiterated that this agreement is likely tied to the MCU Cinematic agreement or at the very least was conducted concurrently with those negotiations.

EDIT: "Movie rights ownership has no bearing on video games."

Most movie negotiations do not involve comic books and video games either. There is a side line in an agreement that blankets multimedia and that is the end of it. Spider-Man like several characters that have incredible application to our hobby is one of the exceptions. Common sense says when a company is conducting motion picture negotiations and said company is the leader in video game hardware and central character of the business deal is a video game hot property, then that subject is going to come up and it is going to be discussed and logic says there will be a decision of some sort on that matter to which parties agree that is part of the overall deal. But apparently, sometimes, common sense...isn't, and certain individuals will drive off of a cliff to avoid where the common sense road is taking them.

xer01353d ago (Edited 1353d ago )

@porkChop - You really don't get it.

Starman691353d ago

Maybe marvel are so smitten with the cash from Sony, they say hey, you can put him in your games for free 😂

Christopher1352d ago

Wait. So if Movie rights has no bearing... that obviously must mean there was another deal made, right? Right? I mean, otherwise, you're telling us this is all just a lie to look like Sony has more sway in this game? Disney is just making Sony look like they have a deal, but they don't?

Look, this exclusivity is a shit deal like most third-party exclusive stuff. But, people are bending over backward to ignore what is right in their face. Sony didn't just give up more of the box office earnings in their last signed deal with Disney without gaining something else.

porkChop1352d ago

@Chris

What are you even arguing? Of course another deal was made. I didn't say there wasn't. I'm saying Sony doesn't own the character, that doesn't mean they didn't make a deal for this DLC.

My point is it's not because of the MCU deal, and it's not due to gaming rights because Sony doesn't own those. It's simple, they opened their wallets. Sony paid for exclusivity of this Spiderman DLC, likely to capitalize on Spiderman hype around the new PS5 game. And I understand why they'd do that. It's smart business. But it sucks for the consumers.

Christopher1352d ago (Edited 1352d ago )

***I'm saying Sony doesn't own the character, that doesn't mean they didn't make a deal for this DLC.***

You saying Sony doesn't own the character completely ignores that they could own the right to its use in video games as of 2019. It's obtuse of you to argue it's not a movie rights issue and ignore that Sony could have obtained more rights elsewhere by giving up more money in the movie rights deal. And then you use an example of a game that had its own licensing deal before those deals were even made.

And this deal isn't just the DLC. The person specifically says they wouldn't have Spider-Man without Sony. That means something more than just the DLC. It means the use of the character, at this time, in video games is in Sony's hands in some way, shape, or form.

It's like you're trying your hardest to not realize that things changed in 2019 with regards to the use of Spider-Man video game licensing even though it's staring all of us right in the face.

2014 - Initial deals, got to make a game from MCU, they chose Spider-Man
2019 - New deals, Disney wanted more money, they debated and Sony gave up more money for what? What possibly could Sony, with their growing PS division, ask in return by giving up more money on Spider-Man movies and their upcoming PS4 exclusive game and with PS5 a year off?

RazzerRedux1352d ago

"My point is it's not because of the MCU deal, and it's not due to gaming rights because Sony doesn't own those. "

So you are claiming to know more about this than the head of the Crystal Dynamics studio? Are you serious?

porkChop1352d ago (Edited 1352d ago )

What I find most interesting about this is that you guys think Sony got the exclusive game rights to one of the most iconic superheroes ever, and you think they just stayed silent. As if that wouldn't be a massive announcement, as if Sony wouldn't be shouting it from the rooftops. Not even a press release.

That would mean that going forward you would never be able to play Spiderman in any form without a PlayStation. And yet you don't think Sony would announce that, especially when new consoles are about to release? Why would they be silent about something that big? I'm trying to understand where you guys are coming from but it just doesn't make any sense.

RazzerRedux1352d ago

Who knows? The agreement very well may not be as straight forward as "exclusive game rights". There can be a lot of nuance in something like this that neither party feels making public is in their best interest. Whatever it is, Sony seems to have some sort of controlling interest in the Spider-Man IP as suggested by Scot Amos.

"I'm trying to understand where you guys are coming from but it just doesn't make any sense."

Why don't you start with what Scot Amos said and stop pretending we made up what was stated?

Christopher1352d ago (Edited 1352d ago )

***What I find most interesting about this is that you guys think Sony got the exclusive game rights to one of the most iconic superheroes ever, and you think they just stayed silent. As if that wouldn't be a massive announcement, as if Sony wouldn't be shouting it from the rooftops. Not even a press release.***

How are they staying silent?

Marvel's Spider-Man 2019.
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales 2020
Spider-Man only on PS5 for Marvel's Avengers 2021

porkChop1352d ago

@Razzer

I get what you're saying. But having ownership or some exclusive deal in place for Spiderman would be massive. That's so advantageous for Sony with new systems launching, I don't see how anything could possibly outweigh the benefits of an announcement like that. We're talking about one of the most iconic and beloved superheroes.

@Chris

You're an intelligent guy, I know that you know exactly what I mean. The two aren't the same thing. Releasing your own exclusive games does not in any way equal Sony coming out and announcing that all future Spiderman games and content will be exclusive to PlayStation. There is a huge difference between the two.

+ Show (15) more repliesLast reply 1352d ago
crazyCoconuts1353d ago

Microsoft should work to have Craig added to Marvel.

Sonic-and-Crash1353d ago (Edited 1353d ago )

hahaha you caught me offguard there

Longadog1352d ago (Edited 1352d ago )

i don't think Aaron "GaaS Man" Greenberg and Lord Spencer is willing to share one of their most prized property outside the Halo universe

morganfell1353d ago (Edited 1353d ago )

How many times did I and several others state that Sony had the rights? And what was the response?

My 3rd or 4th post on the matter was this:

"If he shows up in the game, exclusive or not it still has to be with Sony's permission. And Sony also has approval authority on 'how' he is in the game, 'how' is is portrayed.."

RazzerRedux1352d ago

No, you were dead on, dude. Kudos.

gamer78041353d ago (Edited 1353d ago )

Sony: hey we'll give you a pile of money to put spiderman just in the PS4 version, CD: umm that will tick off fans, but who cares we like money more. Basically.

RazzerRedux1353d ago

Cuz CD really didn't want the most popular Marvel character in their game at all. Sony had to break out the piggy bank to make it happen. Yeah.....that's what happened.

/s

gamer78041353d ago

@Razzer you don’t think Sony paid CD anything to develop a whole character??? This isn’t some easier to make skin slapped on an existing character. CD 100% was paid for this work.

RazzerRedux1353d ago

I have no idea. Neither do you. I absolutely believe that it wouldn't take much considering it is Spider-Man which would absolutely increase sales of the game thus, providing more income to CD. If you think CD would just turn down that opportunity without a fat check then believe what you want.

gamer78041353d ago

@razzer I’ve done 3D modeling and animation and this is far more complex, I can say with most certainty they were paid to put thiis character in

morganfell1353d ago

You absolutely cannot say that CD was paid. Not with 100% certainty. With the popularity of the Spider-Man PS4 game and the buzz surrounding Miles Morales, having Spider-Man in the Avengers serves to draw those Spider-Man fans to the Avengers game.

What you can say is Microsoft paying for Phantasy Star Online is okay because you seem to have no issue with that. And you had no discernible issues with any of the obviously paid exclusivities announced by Microsoft. I am unsure why this Spider-Man news, which any attentive gamer would have seen coming a mile away, is even a matter of note for you. After all, you are the one that stated (contrary to public opinion) that everything with Spider-Man in it is below average. Those are your words. You also feel that how things look graphically is more important than gameplay, and 3rd party will look better on the Series X (your words) so again I am unsure why this entire Spider-man affair is of the least concern to you.

Even if Sony did intervene and we have no way of proving money was involved, it actually benefits CD and Sony. Perhaps Sony did pay. Or perhaps it was offers of product placement. Or a combination. The real question is, so what? Why does it matter? Game companies do it all the time. Sony has the rights and their supporters are glad they have these rights and want them to exercise these rights. And they are delivering on just that very request.

RazzerRedux1353d ago

lol....ok, so is Marvel paying CD *per character*? Hawkeye is being added post-launch to the game. As are other characters. You think Marvel is paying for those individually? Is that how you think this works? How does that make any sense at all?

So Sony gives CD the opportunity to make Spider-Man one of those characters and you think CD is going to balk at it? Are you serious? Remember....this isn't a case where Sony is paying to make an existing character exclusive. Sony is offering up Spider-Man in a situation where he WOULD NOT have been there otherwise. That would be a very strange deal where Sony gives CD the opportunity to include the most popular Marvel character to the game's continuously expanding cast for the most popular console.....but has to come to the table with a "pile of money". Nah....dude. No idea why you think your 3D modeling means anything to anyone, but it gives you no insight into the business itself so stop pretending it does.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 1353d ago
Bathyj1352d ago

This ties into what I said in the other article. Sony likely didn't get the rights to make one spider-man game. They probably got the rights for a period of time like 5 years.

that's why they have the exclusive character and that's why they can make Miles Morales. The alternative is that they are negotiating these deals game by game. That doesn't seem very likely that they are going back to the negotiating table every single game. I'm pretty sure they have plans for Spider-Man 2 after Miles Morales and if they do that deal is probably already in place. Like I said a 5 year time period would allow all this.

Plus look at it from Marvel's point of view. They really want Spider-Man in the mcu. If they were to put Spider-Man on Xbox what would they gain from this besides the licensing fee and it would likely upset Sony and they could pull Spiderman from the mcu after whatever contractual obligations that are already in place have been fulfilled. Good partnerships are about keeping your partner happy so I don't see spider-man appearing on Xbox anytime soon.

If people would understand this I don't think they could be that upset about it.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 1352d ago
Majin-vegeta1353d ago

People need to start seeing.Spider man being exlcusive to PS versions of games is gonna be a norm going forward

wwinterj1353d ago

They will get hot and bothered no matter what. I can't wait for Mario on PS myself!

1353d ago Replies(1)
morganfell1353d ago

Wait until that PS5 exclusive Silent Hill bomb drops. People will get really upset over something that, again, everyone should have seen coming.

morganfell1352d ago (Edited 1352d ago )

@SmielmaN,

As far as I know it is. Some people with whom I talk regularly that are located in Tokyo and work for various studios have nailed certain news all of the time. So while I do not have firsthand knowledge this time, if they are wrong it will be the first instance. In addition they are saying the next FF will be a timed exclusive for the PS5.

ThinkThink1352d ago

Sony needs some exclusives in the horror department so i hope they do scoop this up. Xbox has The medium, Stalker, project mara, state of decay 3 and whatever else they have going on. Silent hill feels like a sony game.

morganfell1352d ago

Timed exclusives do not have the impact some people think and they haven't been especially good for MS. Stalker and The Medium are examples - they're timed.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 1352d ago
Knightofelemia1353d ago

From what I read sounds like the game will be better if you skip the other ports and just buy the Playstation copy.

Games1st1353d ago

It will be better if you skip the other ports and just buy the Playstation copy.

IRetrouk1353d ago

I stand corrected, I assumed sony had no say on spiderman other than their own game universe and any movies, seems like they do, atleast going by what the dev says here.

rdgneoz31353d ago

After MUA 3 came out last year, they had big negotiations between Sony and Marvel to keep Spider-Man in the MCU. Not hard to see those negotiations / relationship transitioning into the gaming world as well, since they already had PS4 Spider-Man and PS5 Miles Morales on the way.

IRetrouk1353d ago (Edited 1353d ago )

That covers their own universe yes, we knew about that deal though, when the new deal was made, they only talked about movies, we just dont know what else was agreed, but to be able to get other devs to include him as a bonus, and exclusive at that, is something I didnt think they had a say on, disney do still own the character after all.

shammgod1353d ago ShowReplies(1)
MetroidFREAK211353d ago

What's an Xbot? I own all platforms. I just think the game looks like shit

badz1491353d ago

Come on. Sure it doesn't look all too special, but "like shit"? The graphics alone looks miles better than any xbone exclusive except Ryse and Gears.

DuckOnQuack351353d ago

Lmao this game looks like trash. How can people even deny this? I figured everyone thought it looked bad

MetroidFREAK211352d ago

Badz149, what does the Xbox One have to do with anything? 🤔 I'm talking about the game as a whole looking boring and unoriginal... It's never been about the exclusive character. I really couldn't care less about it

1352d ago
ThinkThink1352d ago

Wait a minute... This game has been shit on by just about everyone. Now that spidermam is exclusive dlc to ps5 in a year, this game is good now?

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 1352d ago
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60°

WayForward Director Says Nintendo Changed The Way He Looks At Making Video Games

Veteran game designer James Montagna is directing this new project and apparently has a new outlook on game design after teaming up with Nintendo

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100°

Delta, a new all-in-one Nintendo emulator launches for iOS

The new Nintendo-focused emulator for the iPhone is now available with support for several classic systems.

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overkill.wtf
jznrpg22h ago

How long until they get sued and it gets taken down? I say a month or 2

PRIMORDUS21h ago

Sued for what? It's just an emulator no ROMs are with it. ROMs are easy to get anyway, but with iPhone you can't just copy and paste like Android unless it's jail broken I think. Anyway Nintendo should be more concerned with their ROMs up to torrent for years for all of their concoles, but then again they can't do nothing about it, they never will and I love it. 🤣

NotoriousWhiz19h ago

As long as it isn't emulating the Switch, it'll be fine.

RonnySins20h ago

Naaah! Don't want to waste time emulating on iPhone.

Knightofelemia18h ago

Won't belong before Nintendo bangs on Apple's door to have the emu removed. Like I say you take down one six more take it's place. Problem is people are putting emu's on such stupid platforms. The good emus are the ones not on stupid platforms like a red target. The good emu's are word of mouth and keep a low profile.

70°

Cord Smith on the dreamy world of indie game Always In Mind

Cord Smith, the former director of marketing for Compulsion Games' well-known title We Happy Few, has gone through quite a change since leaving the studio. This is represented by his new indie platformer Always In Mind, which takes players into a bizarre dream world full of fantasies inside the head of a little boy named Teddy. Sector got the chance to ask the industry veteran a few questions about his inspirations for the game.