In April, Marvel’s Spider-Man became available on PlayStation Now, a subscription-based streaming service which is essentially the equivalent of Netflix for video games. Although developer Insomniac Games’ critically acclaimed open-world superhero action title will be available on PlayStation Now for a limited time only, rumor has it that Sony might add it to its PS Plus roster for June, which would make the game downloadable, free of charge, for at least another month.
Traveling down the road paved by the Batman: Arkham trilogy, Insomniac took rival studio Rocksteady’s approach and applied it to Peter Parker. The result, as we all know, is what is arguably the best treatment the character has yet received in gaming period. From its painstakingly detailed recreation of New York City (complete with Tony Stark’s Avengers tower), to addicting and fluent web-slinging simulations, and a lengthy story filled to the brim with cameos from the friendly neighborhood hero’s biggest villains, it’s a thrilling ride that no fan of the franchise should miss out on.
Marvel’s Spider-Man was a commercial success. Having sold over 13 million copies, it currently ranks as the second best-selling PS4 game of all time, dwarfed only by Uncharted 4‘s 16 million. And with a next-gen sequel reported to be in the works, Insomniac appears to have created for themselves a powerhouse of a franchise that’s going to help them along for a long, long time.
One of the reasons that Sony may be offering this stellar title for free is that the company is trying to make up for the lackluster games it offered subscribers in the past. Just this month, for instance, it drew the ire of customers by rewarding their monthly fees with throwaway titles like the uninspired builder Cities: Skylines and the self-explanatory Farming Simulator 19. If Marvel’s Spider-Man really is coming to PlayStation Plus, though, Sony’s apology is sure to be accepted.