There's a case to be made that Insomniac Games has been PlayStation's very best developer throughout this console generation. The studio kicked things off in a major way with its PS5 launch title, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales. After that, video game players worldwide saw the release of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Marvel's Spider-Man: Remastered, and Marvel's Spider-Man 2. Now, all eyes are on Marvel's Wolverine, Insomniac's upcoming title, set to be released on Sep. 15, 2026. But even though many amazing adventures have already come our way, there are still plenty of surprises on the horizon.
PlayStation and Sony technically haven't announced Marvel's Spider-Man 3 yet, but we all know it's coming either way. After all, its predecessor culminated in a big cliffhanger, which suggested Norman Osborn and Doctor Octopus would team up against the wall-crawler.
Furthermore, the face model behind Peter Parker, Ben Jordan, uploaded a picture teasing that he's working on a new Spider-Man game before deleting the post. But in case all of that wasn't enough, Peter Parker and Miles Morales' voice actors—Yuri Lowenthal and Nadji Jeter, respectively—have confirmed the game is happening and even provided some major story updates.
But while Marvel's Spider-Man 3 is definitely coming, video game players worldwide will unfortunately not be able to own it in its entirety once it is released.
PlayStation will discontinue physical game discs starting in 2028, meaning Marvel's Spider-Man 3 will be digital only
Physical media is slowly starting to disappear, and Sony intends to put the final nail in the coffin. PlayStation has announced its plans to discontinue physical disc production starting in January 2028, as revealed by a new entry in the PlayStation Blog:
"As consumer preferences and the broader entertainment industry continue to shift away from physical discs to digital, physical game disc production for all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will be discontinued starting January 2028. Following this date, new games will be available on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only. This transition has no impact on games that [were] already released, or will be releasing, prior to January 2028 in disc format."
Moving forward, the only way gamers will be able to purchase titles for their PlayStation consoles will be through the PlayStation Store. For starters, this removes any possibility of sharing games you've bought with your friends by simply giving them a disc. Furthermore, game resales will be nonexistent moving forward, meaning you won't be able to find great deals other than the ones Sony itself decides to put up. But worse than that is the fact that players won't be able to truly own their games.
Back in June, Sony deleted a digital catalog of 551 movies due to licensing issues. If you had previously purchased the likes of Rambo: First Blood or Terminator 2, they were suddenly removed from your video library. Did customers around the world pay to "own" these movies? Yes. Were they still removed? Yes.
The fact that the consumer doesn't get the final say on a product they purchased is a major concern in this digital era, and movements like Stop Killing Games are trying to fight against this trend. However, PlayStation deciding to stop production of physical game discs is a major blow, especially when it comes to licensed titles such as Marvel's Spider-Man 3.
With Marvel's Wolverine releasing this year and a rumored Marvel's Venom game coming our way in 2027, Marvel's Spider-Man 3 wouldn't see the light of day until 2028 at the earliest. That means the wall-crawler's upcoming adventure will only be available to purchase through the PlayStation Store.
There was a time when Activision held the rights to develop Spider-Man games, resulting in titles like The Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and more. The latter was available for digital purchase on the PlayStation Store years ago, yet it was removed when Activision lost the rights to the character.
If fans were to buy Marvel's Spider-Man 3, who is to say that Insomniac won't lose its Marvel licensing rights just a year later and pull the game from the store? Gamers wouldn't be able to re-download the wall-crawler's upcoming adventure afterward, and there would be nothing to be done. Let's hope either Sony backtracks from this decision or that legal regulations are set in place so that players won't risk losing their games at any given second. Either way, this is a very disappointing sign for the video game world moving forward.
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