Spider-Man Confirmed as a PlayStation Exclusive Character in Marvel's Avengers

Tbh the game looks sub par, but Spiderman for free is good for those who will get the game.

@AJDarkstar We can delete articles, but we'd much rather just update and redirect them if information happens to change. That way we have a full record of events.

Looks like everyone who buys this game will pick up for a free Spiderman for PS4.

Would be shocked if this wasn't fully announced on Thursday's State of Play

Hahahahahaha that was a ride

Cool, I like free dlc 😃

Hopefully Yuri Lowenthal returns to voice Spidey

Oh this will be good!

🤭

This game is way behind the 2018 spidey...... Facts

Its seems like it's Anthem 2.0 really, but its fun watching people meltdown on twitter about it, even though its a kinda crappy move on Sonys part.

I'm not a fan of exclusive characters in multiplatform games like this. They should just make the characters accessible to everyone.

Now buy a ps4 and stop the nonsense.ps4 is cheap now.i got a ps4 pro.spiderman represent new york playa word up son

@Redman35 The official tweet states that Square Enix will be putting their own unique take on the character.

Maybe get Tom Holland to provide the voice or better yet the original and best Spidey, Tobey Maguire. He's not doing much nowadays.

🤔

Edit - sorry, Crystal Dynamics are co-developers, SE publishing the game.

Not gonna lie this is pretty cool. The free post launch heroes is almost enough for me to buy this. Even though I hate GaaS.

@AdamNovice Yep!

I'm not that interested in the game anyway but for those that are then this must be good news...if you own a PS4 of course.

Hmmm now I'm leaning into getting this game...

I pre-ordered an hour before this bomb dropped.

Though I must admit I don't know how to feel about this news. I love Spidey! But locking the character behind a consule is a meh move....

Oh well I guess I can't complain...

@ShogunRok as you should do. It's a much better and honest way of handling things.

As to the news, it has already kinda leaked right? Still, I think it sucks a little for none PS owners who were interested in the game, but again, for PS fans I guess this is another nice addition to the game, especially if you are interested in it.

@anon_pel222 whenever i see this game and play the 2017 spidey.
Thus remembers me why i am a sony fanboy.

The avengers game looks like a ***** xbox one game.

Sorry

The game just needs to turn out to be good. If not, having an exclusive character won’t even matter. For me at least.

I remember when I used to cheer business practices like this. Now I just look at them with disgust. Yes, I know Sony has a tight reign on Spider-Man, but it sucks for the people on Xbox and PC.

Well that changed up quick. Welp. I need to play the beta before I even decide if I'm making the game

Haven't written this game off yet as so many others, but will wait and see what the beta reactions will be like.
Even as a Sony fanboy, I don't think it's right to keep Spidey exclusive. Crap move from Sony and SE.

Makes sense since Sony owns the Spider-Man rights.

Xbox fans are complaining about this to high heaven over on Twitter. The anti-consumer comments and insults flying around are horrendous. This is where they draw the line and boycott a game but locking people out of a next gen upgrade of Yakuza 7 for a whole year which is also a multiplatform game is ok?

Hypocrites much?

It's a tough job for the average consumer to know which property belongs to which entity. People know not to expect Mario or Zelda to make an appearance on Xbox and PS systems, but are puzzled when hearing Spider-Man can't leave the PS ecosystem.

Whelp, they just sold me on getting this on PS4 instead of PC.

@GADG3Tx87 To be able to determine if they're indeed hypocrites, you'd have to make sure that the same people made these different remarks. Otherwise, it could simply be people who are against this practice.

I am happy to hear our friendly neighborhood web swinger is coming to Playstation, yet does he have to be swinging his way to us so slow? Spiderman wound never take four whole months to web swing anywhere. Not even from NY to LA.

@sabaki08 In the day and age when pretty much anything is an internet search away ignorance is a problem that should lay solely on those who remain so.

That’s me definitely getting it on PS4 over pc then... I actually think this game looks decent but all the negativity has got me on the fence. Have to see how it is in the beta.

@thefirst Yes but the difference there was that it was never exclusive to the platform. It was only temporary and arguably when it did release on PlayStation it was cheaper (for obvious reasons and came with more content). Blatantly locking away content from other platforms forever isn’t pro consumer. I get Spider Man is Sony’s mascot but it’s essentially less content for others that don’t have another system. Especially for a multiplat game like this

First is he locked away forever? Second why is this still being called a gaas? Let the whales pay for your free updates. There is no pay for dlc no pay for characters no season pass......no gaas. I have taken the stance in I'm still playing a game I'll throw the devs some cash i.e. Monster Hunter. This game will be the same if I'm digging what they ate putting down. I'll give then 10 every couple months.

@gmxs Why May i ask they have the Spiderman rights? So why is it a crappy move because they dont dont talk ***** and do their stuff?

What is even the point of this deal?

@xIFoxHound Pro consumer yeah MS is went proconsumer after got blown out of the water. 😆

Plus they made it look platform exclusive as long as they could.

@naruball These monster trying too get gamers too their platform.

@Flaming_Kaiser Considering they funded quite a large portion of the game and Crystal and Square kept the rights....okay....

@Th3solution While that's kinda true, it doesn't explain why Spiderman is still available in the xbox and pc versions of Marvel vs Capcom Infinite and in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 (which is a switch only game btw).

Not releasing this until 2021 kind of incentivizes putting off purchase until I know if the game is any good or not. This news pretty much seals the deal on not preordering.

Also I really don't see the big deal about Spidey being exclusive to ps4. Exclusives are a thing. Life goes on.

Well this...really sucks for people on other platforms. I get that Sony seems to have some leverage over Spidey's game outings as a result of acquring Insomniac or whatever but it doesn't excuse the fact this is pretty stupid.

@zupertramp It's mainly because it's not even like Avengers is an exclusive game. They're just locking a single character to a specific platform likely as part of an agreement with Sony. This isn't like making a game an exclusive to a console, it's more like having owners of other consoles lose out on a major piece of content. It isn't even the Insomniac Spidey, it's a Crystal Dynamics-specific one.

@crimsontadpoles In most scenarios, sure. But Sony owns Spider-man. They get to decide what they do with it, and allowing your rival to use something you own just isn't a good business choice, unfortunately

@thefirst No I i know. We don’t know fully the extent of it. It’s just how the news is presenting itself at the moment. Because owners of other platforms aren’t getting the full Avengers experience, locking out a pretty substantial Avenger. And if it is permanent then it’s pretty crappy of both parties for allowing it, I get that it is business however.

Yep. Spider-Man has definitely ensured I will be sticking with Sony consoles for the time being.

@Col_McCafferty Tobey is neither the original nor best Spidey.

@GADG3Tx87 Guess it depends on which side of the fanboy spectrum you fall on, both sides have continually flip-flopped when its been their side. Like you said xbox players as if there also aren't pc players upset by this as well since they're getting the game too.

@Applejackson75 Well, in terms of big Hollywood blockbusters he is and imo he's far superior to Tom Holland's little Iron Boy.

In addition Spider-Man 2 remains the best Spidey film by some distance.

@AJDarkstar The old one redirects to this one. So technically it's just one article.

@TheFrenchiestFry Yeah I hear you. I remember Soul Caliber did this some time back with dlc characters, where one console got Yoda and the other Darth Vader (or something like that).

In any case I just feel like if you're the type of person that's that fired up about video games and exclusives it really isn't all that hard to just own both consoles and purchase accordingly.

Because sure, a one-character exclusive as part of a multi-platform game is slightly annoying but it's a given that no one system is ever gonna have it all so again, if it's important to you, just buy both.

Good! Good for Playstation fans. A lot of complaining about this about being anti consumer and all this but i disagree. Sucks for Xbox/PC players. But very pro consumer for PS players. Competition is good. And this should force the other platform holders to compete for their players. Maybe this forces Xbox to get an exclusive character too. Or get exclsuvice DLC. Or even pony up the money to get the sequel exclusive to Xbox. And you know what thats good for? Xbox players. Seems a lot of people are just upset becuase one platform goes to bat for their players, the others don't.

Well if Spiderman can represent Sony as an exclusive character, then let there be an exclusive character for xbox and I know the perfect character: Ghost Rider. Make Ghost Rider an exclusive character for xbox and have him represent for microsoft, thats fair to both sides

@ShanetheSaint88 I don't think pro-consumer means what you think it means. It's a generalized term that encapsulates ALL consumers, not just people on a specific platform. In that regard a single console exclusive character without any of the other platforms following suit sounds incredibly anti-consumer. Especially considering it's Spider-Man, who's literally the face Marvel Comics as a whole.

@thefirst The way they phrased the announcement definitely sounds more like Spidey's a permanent PlayStation exclusive and not a timed one. I feel like they would've mentioned that he would come to other platforms either in the PlayStation Blog or a press release from SE if that wasn't the case.

There is nothing controversial here. PS owners will have an exclusive free content if they buy the Marvel's Avengers game. It is not Sony's fault if Xbox doesn't have anything to offer.

@BrainHacker MS aren't involved in the film industry, Sony most definitely are.

Maybe MS should've invested in films instead of creating a monopoly with PC software. Funny how they've become the 'good guys' in the eyes of so many people and Sony the Big Bad.

🤔

Ha it's like rooting for Thanos.

😉

FallGuys is getting a Gordon Freeman Headcrab costume as preorder bonus on Steam, yet nobody cries anti-consumer about free platform exclusive content there.
If stuff like that has to be held to a certain principle, all have to follow.
Popularity of a character or franchise shouldn't matter.

But people like to to scream anti-consumer only when it fits them.

I for one couldn't care less. If Microsoft wants something exclusive in Avengers on their end, they should just spend the money.
I am happy I get spider-man for myself on PS4.

I'm surprised this news generated so much debate, console exclusive characters have been a thing for a while. Kratos was a MK9 exclusive character, also way back in the day the Soul Calibur games had exclusive characters too.

Makes no difference as the game looks like sub par garbage that will be under $20 in 2-3 months. I hope is not the Spider-Man from Insomniac as that would be offensive to have such a great game associated with basically Anthem with a Avengers skin.

@TheFrenchiestFry Pro & Anti Consumer are two of the silliest terms I’ve ever heard. All businesses are in it for one thing....take your money. Appearing “pro consumer” is a business strategy to garner good PR to persuade people to be a consumer of that business

@BrainHacker
To be fair, Craig superhero should be exclusive to Xbox.

@AdamNovice
how do you know that its the same people?

@ShogunRok
I know there's an outrage over this but am I the only one to read , understand that the exclusivity is that it will be free dlc for PlayStation gamer?
It should be on other platforms too but not free?
Is the press jumping the gun here?

'It’s never been a better time to be a spider-fan! The team at Crystal Dynamics, along with our partners, are overjoyed that we get to be a part of this hero’s gaming journey. We can’t wait for you to add Spider-Man to your Marvel’s Avengers roster in early 2021, and as we’ve promised before, he will be available at no additional cost to owners of the base game, exclusively on PlayStation.'

@Flaming_Kaiser Because I dont believe in paid exclusives like this on any gaming platform, it generates a rotten feeling amongst people and the gaming community as a whole. It was rubbish on Destiny 2 when people on PC / Xbox who paid the exact same amount of money had to wait a whole year just to get their hands on weapons and missions cos of that kinda stuff, see also MS and Tomb Raider, the damage that did to the game itself.

And as I understand it, its not even Sonys version of Spiderman, its Crystal Dynamics version on Spiderman, so its baffling. Can I understand why gaming companies do it, Yes, Money, bragging rights etc doesn't mean I agree with it though, a shady business practice is always a shady business practice even when it seems to go in your favour.

It's funny that some fool who works at IGN last week said that everything Microsoft does seems to get slagged off and he said whatever SONY does no one says anything!?!? What a load of rubbish. Of course he was a Xbox Fan. What a load of rubbish they talk(well 99% of online gaming media) :-/ + Do people forget Microsoft getting that GTA4 DLC??? Funny that to because the Xbox Fans said that would never come to the PS3(and it did like nearly everything else)

Honestly this kinda just feels petty and unnecessary. What's the point of making a game for multiple consoles and then making one of the most famous characters exclusive to one console? Regardless of whether Microsoft, Sony of Nintendo do this it's just pathetic.

What's next? Cross-platform Tekken but half the characters are on Xbox and the other half on Sony with the rest of the cast being completely random characters?

This would be like if Nintendo released Pokemon on PS5 but made the Pikachu/Mewtwo/Charizard/Eevee evolution lines exclusive to the Switch.

@thefirst IGN is just pure ***** whilst EG are incredibly pro-Nintendo and pro-PC. Very sniffy about PS in general in particular their exclusives.

I was surprised they gave TLoU 2 an Essential rating. They didn't even give GoT a Recommended but then again they're pretty negative towards open world games in general.

This is the site that rated Arms above Horizon Zero Dawn and classed Tetris Effect as the best game of 2018, a year that included God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2 amongst other titles.

Polygon and Kotaku are basically anti-Sony nowadays and even when they do give praise it's begrudgingly!

curbyourenthusiasm_endingtheme.mp3

Speaking of Exhibit A, I'd like to point out I'm totally siding with @nookie_egg on this matter. Third-party exclusives - may they be software or content, if content is on such a significant scale - are not "exclusives", they're bribes by a more flattering name. Unless an exclusive is gained by financing the game's actual development (e.g. Bayonetta 2, Cuphead) and not by securing a deal, that's just grabbing a game from other console players.
Don't get me wrong: I have utmost respect for most of Sony's IPs (case in point: Ratchet And Clank, which manages to keep Insomniac Games out of the edgefest the industry is seeing), mostly because they're... well, Sony's own IPs. (I have played one game in the series, Size Matters on PSP, but I always found the reliance on bolts and ammo to be rather sluggish in terms of gameplay.)

@Col_McCafferty
Wait, what? Polygon and Kotaku? They're... anti-Sony? I'm not that much of a lurker on either, to be honest. But they're not exactly the first two names that could come to my mind when thinking of being anti-Sony.

@JJ2 I had the same thought, but Square Enix has said on multiple occasions that all additional content for the game will be free. And I think the way it's worded, with the part about exclusivity at the end, is them trying to be clear that it's PlayStation only, period.

@sabaki08 This is just not true. Spiderman is in Ultimate Alliance 3 for Switch and in mobile games. Not sure why people think Sony owns Spiderman. They do not.

@CavemanNo12 Sony does not own Spiderman.... why do people think this? Because of movies and one exclusive game? See Ultimate Alliance 3 on Switch and all the Spiderman based games on other consoles.

@thefirst
If you really want an anti Sony Site look at Window Central haha
To be fair though, sometimes it's a site but often it's just individuals. We are all biased and gaming journalists all the same even if they pretend to be neutral. Look at Tom Warren with his continuous little console war on twitter.
I'd say its human but hypocrisy is the worse.

@Synthatron_Prime
They do own Spider-Man actually. They bought the character rights in 1999 from Marvel. Marvel only retain the comic book rights and Disney have the merchandising.

Last year after a dispute Sony pulled Spider-Man out of the MCU, Disney were demanding more money for his licenced appearance in the MCU. Negotiations were opened and it has been suggested that they now have complete control over the game rights rather than just partial as well as the movie rights they already had in order for Marvel/Disney to get Spider-Man back in the MCU.

You ask why he is in MAU3? simple, as many have said in the past Nintendo is not a direct competitor to Sony. They march to the beat of their own drum.

But long story short, it has been known for over two decades that Sony have the majority say in the Spider-Man character.

@GADG3Tx87 You make some valid points but I don't think its all accurate. Can you supply proof? Its mostly conjecture based on movie rights.

Your argument about why he is in UA 3 just doesn't hold water. Even if Sony's view on the Switch is true Spiderman games appeared on direct competitors systems until their most recent PS4 game. 3DS/DS was direct competition for Vita and PSP yet Spiderman games appeared on it. Xbox, Gamecube, etc. I think this is just a situation where Sony threw lots of money at the developer.

@GADG3Tx87 Ah wait. You say they have more game rights now rather than prior. That does negate my comparison there if true but I've still seen nothing concrete. I did see this today:

https://apptrigger-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/apptrigger.com/2020/08/03/spider-man-video-games/amp/?amp_js_v=a3&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA%3D#aoh=15965512111433&csi=1&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fapptrigger.com%2F2020%2F08%2F03%2Fspider-man-video-games%2F

@Synthatron_Prime
To answer your question Sony only had partial game rights until 2016. That's when that changed and why those games were multiplatform until then. You see, Activision had the licence until that point which expired four years ago. That is why it is now believed that Sony have more say over the game rights than previously due to the recent re-negociation in 2019. However they have had full movie rights for 21 years.

It's a mess, granted. Having the character split between 3 bodies of movies/games, merchandising and comics but that's as much as the general public knows about the deals that were struck.

@GADG3Tx87 Good point. We will never know the details. For the record I don't have a horse in this race. I was just curious about the rights more than anything. Thanks for the replies.

@Synthatron_Prime
Nah, it's cool.
I mean I get where people are coming from but that's just business, screaming about it won't change anything.

People saying they will boycott the game over the situation is up to them but I believe all it will do is hurt their own chosen platforms in the end.

If the game sells better on PlayStation due to a boycott then the publishers will likely think twice about offering incentives to those platforms in the future because they'll likely think it's not worth their while because people aren't interested in their games on those platforms.

All that does it create more incentive for them to offer exclusivity on content to PlayStation because they'll think that's where the money is. After all it's unlikely they read forum posts to know any different.

That's why I feel the Xbox and PC fans screaming about it and boycotting are only hurting themselves in the long run.

@ShanetheSaint88 Well what good is getting money out of people if consumer morale is damaged thereafter? This game was already recieving heavily mixed reactions from people since its unveiling at last year's E3 but now I'm seeing people cancelling their preorders or refusing to support the game over this. I know it's likely out of our control due to the fact Sony owning the developer with the Spider-Man license probably had a big hand in making this happen the way it did, but especially a character as prolific as Spider-Man being locked to a single platform is pretty short-sighted. It's not like the Ultimate Alliance days where each platform got their own exclusive character because Activision was nice like that.

@TheFrenchiestFry No one is going to cancel their preorder or "boycott" the game over this. That's all social media noise. Go look up how well game boycotts have done in the past lol all this will do it make it more likely for those people on the fence to get the game on PS. Or make PS fans happy. Both things Sony wants

@ShanetheSaint88 I never said boycott. You can just not buy a game. It doesn't have to be for some deep seeded emotional reason. But business practices like these need to stop. The fact that the other platforms aren't getting anything specific to compensate is really one-sided. I don't care about this being something Sony wants. It's still really stupid that it had to happen to a high-profile multiplatform game based on one of the most celebrated teams in comic book history. It would've made a lot more sense if it was Insomniac's Spidey because that game isn't multiplatform but that isn't even the case.

@gmxs Its all about the money you can thank MS for these great things. I rather see a new Dark Cloud then Spiderman in boring looking game. But with the money made with MT which i hate of it i see new firstparty titles almost all without MT thank god.

Fantastic news..so excited about Spidey. I pre-ordered it yesterday but I would have done it anyway. I love Marvel universe and now I get the chance to play with all heroes. It is awesome for me. On Friday the beta starts, this means good hours of playtime.

@Synthatron_Prime My mistake. Don't know why I didn't think of that. I eventually learned Sony only owns the rights for the movies, not the games as well.