It’s been 3 years since Spider-Man 2 was released for the PlayStation 5. We’re talking about the game, of course, not the movie. Anyway, the game is good, but recently it has had a surge of players. This is a single-player game, so that means that once you finish it, it’s done. There’s nothing stopping you from replaying it, though, and that’s what happened for a lot of people.
What caused this surge?
Spider-Man 2 usually has a player count of 2,000 to 3,000+ players. That’s not a bad thing considering the game has been out for 3 years, and it is a single-player game. The Steam charts for player numbers spiked around the last week of July until the first weeks of August.
Based on the image below, the highest point it got was around 15,000 players. Technically that’s a 500% increase, but before that was mostly the 300% increase people were touting about. So what caused this to happen?
The only reason is that the movie Spider-Man: Brand New Day was released during that period, and it is still in theaters today. In fact, currently at the time of this posting, the movie had already crossed the 2 billion dollar mark. That is insane, the highest-grossing Spider-Man live-action movie today.
Will this have an effect on future Spider-Man games?
Probably not, with all those rumors about Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man dying in the upcoming Avengers Doomsday movie, the games and the movies, and even the Spiderverse movies have nothing to do with each other. On the opposite end, the movie did borrow some moves and has references to the PlayStation Spider-Man games.
Spider-Man 2, for a moment
Let’s talk for a short moment about Spider-Man 2. What made it good or bad? After all, this game was a bit of a controversial piece, for the most part.
Brief Story and Gameplay Summary
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 follows Peter Parker and Miles Morales as they protect New York while facing new threats, especially Kraven the Hunter and the alien symbiote Venom. Peter becomes increasingly affected by the symbiote, putting his relationships with Miles, MJ, and Harry Osborn at risk. The story focuses on friendship, responsibility, and the struggle between power and self-control.
Gameplay combines fast-paced web-swinging, exploration, and superhero combat. Players can switch between Peter and Miles, each with different abilities and fighting styles. Peter uses the symbiote and spider abilities, while Miles uses his electric Venom powers and camouflage. The open-world New York setting also includes side missions, collectibles, and activities alongside the main story.
Mild Controversies
One major controversy surrounding Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on PS5 was its technical performance at launch. Although the game was generally praised, players encountered bugs such as characters or objects failing to load, characters getting stuck, missions not triggering properly, and other progression-breaking problems. Insomniac released several patches shortly after launch to fix these issues and improve stability.
Another debate involved the Mary Jane missions. Some players disliked having to play as MJ because she is normally a non-superpowered character, yet in the sequel she can defeat powerful enemies using advanced equipment. Critics felt these sections interrupted the fast Spider-Man gameplay and made MJ seem unrealistically powerful, while others appreciated them for giving her a more active role in the story.
The game also became involved in arguments about diversity and LGBTQ+ representation. Some online groups criticized characters and side stories involving Miles Morales, Hailey, and LGBTQ+ characters, claiming the game was too “woke.” These arguments became connected to controversy surrounding Sweet Baby Inc., a narrative-consulting company that was targeted by an online harassment campaign.
Despite all of these controversies, the game sold well enough, although Spider-Man 3 has yet to be announced. Maybe they are saving that for the PS6.