Spider-Man on PS4 looks like it will usher in an exciting new era for Marvel video games- but it may end up doing more than just that. Just like how Iron Man was used to build a larger Marvel Cinematic Universe (which is now the most profitable movie franchise in history), so too could Spider-Man be used to usher in a Marvel Gaming Universe.
This word comes to us from none other than Marvel, whose Executive Creative Director Bill Rosemann noted this to The Telegraph in an interview, teasing a larger story and universe to come.
“This is Marvel’s New York. This is a Marvel game. It’s not in a bubble. It is the New York that you want Spider-Man in. So yeah, uh, if you’re a Marvel fan coming to play this game you’ll see familiar names and logos and locations and we’re lucky that you’ll see, oh, that is the Sanctum Sanctorum?! It’s not going to be a focus but you’ll be able to swing by it. You’ll feel like, this isn’t just any New York City, I’m in the Marvel universe. This is Marvel’s New York. There will be a lot of elements that will make you feel like it’s part of a larger story.”
I do hope that there does end up being a Marvel Gaming Universe- I feel like something like that, if pulled off well, could be spectacular (it’s an idea that only Ubisoft and Nintendo have vaguely experimented with so far in the gaming realm). Spider-Man launches exclusively on the PlayStation 4 this September.