Less than 24 hours ago, we received the trailer of the upcoming Spider-Man game for the PlayStation 5, starring Miles Morales. Yet, when I woke up this morning, it had been said that the game was an expansion to a remastered, PS5 version of the PS4 Spider-Man game, and now, some are saying it’s something different. Sony, what is the truth?
Let’s go back. During Sony’s PS5 reveal event yesterday, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales was described as “a new adventure from Insomniac Games.” Hurray, we all cheered and discussed whether it’s okay to find the PS5 sort of sexy in terms of its design (I’m Team It’s Kinda Sexy, but we don’t have to be weird about it), and wondered how much it was going to cost us.
Then, the plot twist came when Simon Rutter, from Sony Interactive Entertainment, told The Telegraph “guess you could call it an expansion and an enhancement to the previous game,” referring to the 2018 Spider-Man game, which is amazing, but this is where things get confusing. He says the following about the Miles Morales game, via Video Games Chronicle:
“There’s a substantial Miles Morales component – which is the expansion element – but also within the game as well there’s been major enhancements to the game and the game engine, obviously deploying some of the major PlayStation 5 technology and features.”
This all makes it sounds as if the Miles Morales gameplay that was shown is DLC or some extras for a remastered version of the original game, not its own standalone game, which is what people were expecting from something being called a “new adventure,” especially considering how popular Miles has become in the mainstream after Into the Spider-Verse. It doesn’t make sense to make him a side story, and as Gita Jackson over at Vice put it:
The question isn’t “why is Miles the star of a side story,” but, “why isn’t Miles the main character of this franchise?” Once you start to look at what might motivate a company to release smaller, shorter games with Black protagonists, or why these characters can only tell their own stories in expansions and DLCs, you’ll paint a pretty unflattering portrait of the video game industry.
There are so few meaningful Black leads in video games who aren’t just a few characters in a fighting game. Just the idea of getting to play as Miles made me want to get a PS5, no questions asked. It takes a lot for me to decide to invest in a new system, and this game was going to be a big one … until it wasn’t.
Now, according to new tweets today from developer Insomniac Games, Miles’ game will be a full standalone game. So, what’s the truth? Are they seeing the reaction and deciding to build a planned expansion into a full Miles game? Did Rutter just misspeak in calling it an “expansion and an enhancement?” And why is it this hard to figure it out?
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is the next adventure in the Marvel’s Spider-Man universe. We will reveal more about this standalone game at a future date. #MilesMoralesPS5 pic.twitter.com/GOTAvNhUaF
— Insomniac Games (@insomniacgames) June 12, 2020
NEWS: Spider-Man Miles Morales is *not* an expansion or enhancement or remaster, despite a Sony executive’s comments this morning, a source tells Bloomberg News. Nor is it Spider-Man 2. It is a brand-new, standalone game similar in scope to Uncharted Lost Legacy.
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) June 12, 2020
I WANT THE TRUTH!
(image: Sony/ Insomniac Games)
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