Let's go back in time to September 2021. A PlayStation showcase took the world by storm by releasing a first look at Insomniac Games' Marvel's Spider-Man 2, while also revealing that the same studio was working on Marvel's Wolverine. This surprise would quickly generate a lot of excitement, as Logan hasn't been the protagonist of a video game in a long time, and Insomniac has an incredible (and well-earned) reputation. Fans couldn't wait to get their hands on this highly acclaimed title, yet almost four years have gone by and not even a follow-up trailer has been released.
While it isn't unusual for video game studios to announce an upcoming project and go radio silent for many years (Beyond Good and Evil 2 was unveiled in 2017 and has disappeared since), it is an uncommon practice specifically for Insomniac.
The first trailer for Marvel's Spider-Man for PS4 was released in 2016, and the game hit shelves two years later. Furthermore, gamers had to wait the same two-year period between the reveal and release of Marvel's Spider-Man 2. To take things a step further, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales was announced in June 2020, and it came out in December of the same year. It's clear that Insomniac has a pattern of revealing a game when it has, at most, two years left of development (if not less). So why has Marvel's Wolverine been an exception?
Back in December 2023, Insomniac Games was unfortunately hacked, and a lot of private files (which included concept art, presentations, development footage, and more) made their way online for the world to see. While it's not necessary to dive into the specifics of what was revealed with the hack, it's important to know that this heavily altered the company's plans moving forward. Complete games and DLCs were planned to be released by now, yet some still have to see the light of day, while others were completely cancelled. Unfortunately, Marvel's Wolverine was among the titles affected.
It wouldn't be too far-fetched to assume Insomniac scrapped many of its already-planned ideas for Marvel's Wolverine based on what was leaked. Perhaps the story has been altered, and some new gameplay mechanics could've been introduced. In the worst-case scenario, the highly acclaimed developer went literally back to square one and started all over again. So now the question becomes: How long does it take for them to develop a game from scratch?
Development for Marvel's Spider-Man for PS4 started very early in 2015, after the release of Sunset Overdrive on October 28, 2014. This means the game was just a little over three years in the kitchen before gamers were able to play it for themselves. If Insomniac started working on Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales right after that, then the project had just a two-year development cycle (though it's claimed that 50% of the title "was made in just five months"). Granted, a lot of assets and animations from Marvel's Spider-Man for PS4 were reused, but it's still a pretty impressive record.
There was a five-year gap between Marvel's Spider-Man and its sequel, which is a considerable amount of time. However, through that period, Insomniac released Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and even Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered. That means the majority of Insomniac's developers were able to work on Marvel's Spider-Man 2 only after the release of Ratchet & Clank in 2021, and yet the game came out in 2023.
Even if Insomniac has changed many elements of Marvel's Wolverine after the 2023 leaks, they should still be able to use many existing assets and animations. Development shouldn't have restarted completely from scratch, which gives them an advantage. With that in mind, it wouldn't be far-fetched to assume that another three years are needed to complete the game since the moment the leaks happened. That would mean Marvel's Wolverine will hit shelves in late 2026 — making 2025 the ideal year for another promotional trailer.
While Summer Game Fest is always the event to look forward to for any big reveals, we should instead turn our attention to a PlayStation Showcase (which is the place where Insomniac titles have been unveiled in recent years). It's important to note that Sony tends to release a gaming presentation in September of every year. In 2023, it was a State of Play, while in 2024, it was a showcase. Based on this pattern, a showcase in September of this year would seem very plausible, especially considering Sony would like to shine the spotlight on its upcoming exclusive, Ghost of Yōtei, before it hits shelves in October.
Players could finally see more of Marvel's Wolverine this September after a very long hiatus. Granted, a Summer Game Fest tease is not out of the cards, but it's best to err on the side of caution for now. After all, Sony will likely want its major studios to share footage of their upcoming games in an in-house presentation. Hopefully, Logan will get to steal the spotlight for himself, and a release date will finally be announced.