PlayStation fans are increasingly becoming concerned about the status of Marvel’s Wolverine at developer Insomniac Games. Since first being revealed in 2021, PlayStation hasn’t shown off any new looks at its PS5-exclusive Wolverine game, whether it be with a new trailer or official gameplay footage. Instead, the past year has brought with it a massive leak at Insomniac that resulted in tons of Marvel’s Wolverine info and footage hitting the internet. Now, in the wake of this leak coming about, another odd move at Insomniac is prompting further worry about Wolverine.
Reported earlier by Game File, it was unveiled that Marvel’s Wolverine had recently lost its creative director, Brian Horton. Horton, who also helmed Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales at Insomniac, opted to move on from the studio to instead work at Xbox, specifically as the director of the Perfect Dark reboot. In turn, Horton is being replaced at Insomniac by Marcus Smith as creative director, while Mike Daly will be the new game director. Smith and Daly previously served as the co-directors on Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, which launched in 2021.
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Naturally, any time a director leaves a project halfway through development as Horton has with Marvel’s Wolverine, it’s going to raise some eyebrows. Historically, though, directors moving from one company to another at any point in a development cycle is something that has happened plenty of times before. As such, Horton’s decision to leave Insomniac might not mean anything negative about the status of Marvel’s Wolverine.
That being said, there is one element of this Wolverine report that is a bit more concerning. Specifically, it was claimed that Horton left Insomniac as part of “creative decisions” tied to Marvel’s Wolverine. For one reason or another, it seems that Horton and others in charge at Insomniac may have been having disputes about the direction of Wolverine, which may have more or less pushed him out the door. This element of the report, in particular, raises a red flag, especially as PlayStation seems unwilling to show Wolverine off in any capacity.
The biggest question that I’m left with in the wake of this report is whether or not the leak at Insomniac played any part in Horton leaving. Was Marvel’s Wolverine already having creative struggles before the leak ever happened? Or did Insomniac try to change elements of the story, scale, and gameplay of Wolverine after its previous work became public via the leak?
Regardless of what the answer is, it’s clear that the past year has been a rough one for Insomniac. With employee personal data also having been compromised in the widespread leak, this situation surely impacted all areas of the studio and has without a doubt caused some bumps in the road for all upcoming projects. Still, even if Marvel’s Wolverine has hit a snag in its creation throughout 2024, there’s likely no reason to be too concerned about the PS5-exclusive just yet.
If past leaks are still accurate, Insomniac isn’t planning to release Marvel’s Wolverine until 2026 at the earliest. Whether or not these creative changes will lead to the game getting kicked further down the road isn’t yet known, but if nothing else, maybe PlayStation will decide to give fans a taste of Wolverine in an official capacity in the months ahead. Until that happens, though, fans are likely going to remain a bit on-edge with so many lingering questions surrounding the Marvel title.