Insomniac Says Picking Marvel's Spider-Man PS4 Villains Has Been Stressful

It’s no secret that AAA game development can be stressful. Aside from horror stories about crunch, developers also have to contend with an assortment of harassment from angry gamers who are upset about the game not being exactly what they envisioned. This stress can be capitalized upon when the development team takes on a huge IP, such is the case with Insomniac Games, who has admitted to feeling pressure around the villains in Marvel’s Spider-Man.

According to Bryan Intihar, the Game Director over at Insomniac Games, it’s all about an ensuring there’s a balance between fan-favorites and functionality. You wouldn’t include a character who don’t appropriately function in the story Insomniac Games is telling, just because they are a fan-favorite. It’s worth noting that Marvel’s Spider-Man is telling a completely original story probably crafted by Insomniac Games’ writers, so if the villain the studio wants to include doesn’t align with the narrative, then they aren’t going to make the cut. (Maybe this is why Venom won’t make an appearance?)

In an interview with Push Square, Intihar said “100 per cent [sic], yes,” when asked about whether the studio felt pressure to include or exclude certain characters.”I think that everybody has their favourite character and supporting characters and villains,” Intihar continued. “But at the end of the day, some people will be super happy and some will be wishing there was someone else in there.” Intihar finished his statement by saying that Marvel’s Spider-Man still features “a pretty big cast” and are hoping the studio gets “a lot of peoples’ favourites,” even if what they had to do was “best for the experience, [both in terms of] the story we wanted to tell and in terms of the a gameplay challenge.”

Marvel’s Spider-Man recently went gold, so we won’t have to wait too much longer to see who else will be in the game. Currently, we know Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will be facing seven villains: Electro, Kingpin, Mister Negative, Rhino, Scorpion, Shocker, and Vulture. In addition to these seven, Marvel’s Spider-Man will also see Mary Jane and Miles Morales assist Spider-Man, though their involvement with the game’s story—and whether or not Miles Morales will be playable—is yet to be seen.

Are you happy with the villains currently announced for Marvel’s Spider-Man? Are there others you’d like to see? Late last month, Insomniac’s Art Director Jacinda Chew said that Bryan Intihar’s favorite villain has yet to be shown, so it’s likely more of Spider-Man’s villains will show up in New York.