Insomniac’s X-Men Game is PlayStation’s Next Marvel Hit as Development Gains Momentum

Insomniac Games is reportedly planning an ambitious X-Men game that could become one of the studio’s biggest Marvel projects. Details from the massive 2023 Insomniac hack revealed long-term plans for multiple Marvel titles, including Wolverine and a dedicated X-Men game. 

The leaked documents originally showed a much larger plan for Insomniac’s Marvel games, with several projects scheduled across the next decade. The studio was reportedly planning Marvel’s Venom, Marvel’s Wolverine, Marvel’s Spider-Man 3, another Ratchet & Clank, and eventually Marvel’s X-Men. 

Insomniac has also gone through an important leadership change during this period. 

Ted Price announced his retirement in early 2025 after founding and leading the studio for more than 30 years. He was replaced by Ryan Schneider, Chad Deschenes, and Jen Huang, who took over leadership responsibilities while emphasizing that the studio intended to maintain continuity across its existing projects and ambitious roadmap.

According to the leaked roadmap, Insomniac’s original plans for the X-Men franchise were even larger than a single game. Earlier documents appeared to describe three X-Men titles, with one planned around 2030, another around 2033, and an additional project beyond 2035. 

The original plans also included multiplayer components connected to several of Insomniac’s Marvel games. An X-Men online mode was reportedly targeted for 2028, following planned online components for Spider-Man 2 and Wolverine. 

However, those multiplayer plans appear to have been abandoned as Sony changed its strategy surrounding live-service games. The leaked information suggests that maintaining these projects would have required substantial resources and could have affected Insomniac’s ability to focus on its single-player games.

That change means the future X-Men game is expected to focus much more heavily on the single-player experience. The leaked information suggests the game would likely use a linear structure rather than a massive open world. Those levels could have bigger areas with side missions, collectibles, and other things to do. 

This would let Insomniac give each mutant a different style of gameplay, without losing control of the overall story. 

Cyclops could use his optic blasts, for example, and Storm could use weather-based powers. You could have Rogue stealing powers from other characters, Gambit being able to use his kinetic energy powers, and Mystique bringing in some stealth gameplay, maybe. The variety of mutant abilities gives Insomniac plenty of opportunities to make each character feel mechanically different.

The leaked character information also points toward an impressive potential roster. Wolverine, Sabretooth, Mystique, Jean Grey, Mister Sinister, and Omega Red have all been mentioned alongside major X-Men characters such as Cyclops, Professor Charles Xavier, Magneto, Storm, Beast, Rogue, and Gambit. 

The connection to Wolverine could be one of the most important parts of the project. The leaked plans suggest that the X-Men game would exist in the same universe as Insomniac’s Spider-Man games and would connect directly to Wolverine. 

This would allow Insomniac to build a connected Marvel gaming universe in a similar way to how Marvel Studios developed its cinematic universe. Characters and storylines could move between different games, while individual projects could focus on specific heroes. 

That would allow characters such as Gambit, Nightcrawler, or Deadpool to receive their games. The leaked plans have already mentioned a mysterious Wolverine spin-off, although the available information does not establish whether that project ever developed into something substantial. 

The roadmap's spacing between major X-Men games and other projects could provide Insomniac with opportunities to explore individual mutants without immediately moving into another full ensemble game.

The financial side of the X-Men agreement is also reportedly substantial. 

According to the leaked documents, each Marvel title received a development budget of around $120 million, alongside $30 million for marketing and a $9 million recoupable advance, bringing the reported total to $159 million per game. The overall commitment was reportedly $621 million, suggesting that the agreement was designed to cover multiple X-Men projects.

The leaked information states that either party can terminate the agreement if a particular title fails to sell six million copies during its first year. That is a significant target, although Insomniac's previous success with the Spider-Man franchise suggests that PlayStation and Marvel have strong reasons to believe the studio can reach major sales numbers.

The reported licensing agreement also includes extensive exclusivity terms. The leaked documents state that the X-Men games are intended for PlayStation and PC, while XBOX and Nintendo platforms would be excluded during the exclusivity period. 

The leaked information indicates that there are no known concept art packages, animation builds, or gameplay alpha footage from the actual X-Men game. Instead, the closest available material comes from Marvel’s Wolverine, where characters such as Omega Red and Mystique have already been shown.

The current roadmap reportedly places Wolverine around 2026, followed by Venom around 2027 and Spider-Man 3 around 2028 or 2029. 

A new Ratchet & Clank project could then arrive around 2029, while the X-Men game reportedly targets around 2030. Later plans include another new IP around 2031 or 2032, followed by another X-Men game around 2033 and an additional project beyond 2035.

The timing could also place the X-Men game alongside a major period for Marvel's film universe. The leaked information suggests that the game's 2030 window could coincide with the Marvel Cinematic Universe introducing the X-Men on the big screen. 

For now, however, Marvel’s Wolverine is still the most important part of the picture. The game is expected to establish characters and elements that could eventually feed into the larger X-Men storyline. If Insomniac follows the roadmap revealed by the leaks, Wolverine will not simply be another standalone Marvel game.