Fans of Insomniac Games are looking forward to the studio's next Marvel adventure in Wolverine, but a release date still has not been confirmed for the PlayStation 5 (PS5) title.
Marvel's Wolverine was first confirmed in September 2021 at a PlayStation Showcase and little has been heard about it since. The game will exist in the same universe as Insomniac's Spider-Man games and is expected to be a PS5 exclusive.
When Will Marvel's Wolverine Be Released?
Of course, the main question on most fan's minds is what Marvel's Wolverine's release date will be.
It has been almost four years since the game was first announced, and there have been no further trailers or teasers in the time since. However, looking to Insomniac Games' past releases may give an indication.
The release pattern of Insomniac's most recent PlayStation games is as follows:
- Ratchet & Clank - 2016
- Marvel's Spider-Man - 2018
- Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales - 2020
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart - 2021
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2 - 2023
Insomniac is fairly consistent at releasing games no more than two years apart, which means a 2025 release for Marvel's Wolverine seems promising (find out what else is know about the game here).
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 was announced at the same 2021 showcase as Marvel's Wolverine and went on to be released in 2023. The game had its first major gameplay reveal at a PlayStation Showcase in May 2023, before it was released five months later in October.
This strategy could be a positive sign for Wolverine's release this year, with gameplay potentially being revealed in the first half of the year before it releases in late 2025. However, there are some other factors to take into account here, in particular, the Rhysida hack.
In 2023, Insomniac was the subject of a targeted hack by a group known as Rhysida, which resulted in sensitive employee information, cutscenes, animated models, plot points, casting details, and even early playable builds for Marvel's Wolverine being leaked online.
Sony swifty took action against content relating to the leaks, but Insomniac released a statement confirming the events were "extremely distressing" for the studio and that they would reveal information about Marvel's Wolverine "when the time is right:"
"'Marvel's Wolverine' continues as planned. The game is in early production and will no doubt greatly evolve throughout development, as do all our plans."
It is unclear how much the hack may have set back development on Marvel's Wolverine despite the studio claiming things would continue as planned back in 2023.
Will Wolverine Be A 2026 PS5 Game?
While fans are hoping for a 2025 release for Marvel's Wolverine, it may be more likely that the game is seen in 2026 instead, marking a three year gap between Marvel's Spider-Man 2.
One thing that makes this more plausible is the Venom game that Insomniac was supposedly working on (as revealed in the documents from the hack). This game was allegedly closer in size and scale to Spider-Man: Miles Morales, making a two-year gap between this and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 plausible.
Marvel's Wolverine could then be Insomniac's major release of 2026, allowing the studio to churn out three games in three years, similar to what it did between 2018 and 2021. However, it is worth noting that a Venom game has not been confirmed by Insomniac and may have been stalled or shelved since the Rhysida hack.
As of January 2024 Insomniac has had nothing new to share on Marvel's Wolverine with co-studio head Chad Dezern told Variety this week that "as much as we have pent up excitement, we got to hold onto it:"
"We’ve announced 'Wolverine,' and we’d love to talk more about 'Wolverine,' but we have to be like Logan today, and remain very stoic until it’s time to pop the claws down the road. As much as we’re as much as we have pent up excitement, we got to hold on to it. So that’s, that’s about as much as we could say about our upcoming projects today."
The combination of the Rhysida hack, a lack of updates, and these recent comments from Insomniac's executives make it seem unlikely that Marvel's Wolverine will be a 2025 game, but the studio has been known to make miracles happen.
Marvel's Wolverine is currently in development for PS5 (find out what else is known about the Insomniac game here).
