Marvel’s Spider-Man had a scrapped multiplayer mode and it sounds amazing
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Insomniac Games seemingly scrapped a multiplayer mode for Marvel’s Spider-Man, according to a recent datamine.
Having arrived on PC last week, fans quickly began datamining Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered’s code. Discovered by Twitter (opens in new tab)user DniweTamp (via Reddit (opens in new tab)), this dataminer uncovered files pointing towards co-op and multiplayer notifications, part of which reads ‘If set and in co-op’. It appears we would’ve seen two Spider-Men competing to become the ‘Superior Spider-Man’.
According to these files, player two would’ve controlled Miles Morales, using his unique moveset from Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Detailing this further, DniweTamp then shared code which lists player 1, player 2, red team, blue team, character 1, and character 2. When put together, this suggests Insomniac Games had initially planned a PvP mode, seeing Miles compete against Peter Parker.
Since this announcement, more details have come to light on what Insomniac Games had planned. According to VGC (opens in new tab), references to a PvE mode known as ‘Free For All’ were also spotted, and it appears that multiplayer would’ve been accessible in a separate game mode. If you’re curious to see more, you can find the direct code in the Twitter thread above.
A second chance?
It’s hard to say why Insomniac Games scrapped multiplayer from the finished game. Maybe it no longer fit with the developer’s overall vision, or perhaps it simply wasn’t running well on the original PS4 hardware. There’s never been any public acknowledgement that multiplayer was ever considered, so right now, all we can really do is speculate.
However, while PlayStation Blog (opens in new tab) referred to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 as a single-player experience, there’s every chance we could see this return in the sequel. Launching next year as a PS5 exclusive, the reveal trailer placed a big emphasis on Peter fighting alongside Miles. Taking on various goons, this trailer ends with the surprise appearance from a dangerous but familiar threat, Venom.
It’s believed we’ll play as Peter and Miles at separate moments but while I usually prefer solo campaign, I’d love to see a co-op take on this formula. Even if it’s separate from the main game, there’s something exciting about the idea of web slinging across New York with a friend, competing to be the better Spider-Man. How that’d work, I’m unsure, but I’m excited to see what the next game brings.