Although nearly a decade has passed since Activision lost its license to develop Marvel video games, two of the publisher's final Spider-Man titles were apparently on the verge of receiving modern remasters.
According to an anonymous source at Activision via Reddit user armoredadvanced, both Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and Spider-Man: Edge of Time were reportedly set to be remastered on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Switch. While the publisher's Marvel license expired in 2014, several years later Activision attempted to regain Marvel's interest with a deal that would see digital versions of some of the publisher's older titles relisted, such as Ultimate Alliance 1 and 2. Marvel was initially on board, according to the source, with Activision going so far as to begin "early prototyping" on Shattered Dimensions/Edge of Time remasters. Yet, the deal ultimately fell through when Activision pushed for the rights to develop new Marvel games, and so no deal was ever officially signed.
The chances of these Shattered Dimensions or Edge of Time remasters seeing the light of day appear slim, unfortunately, as the source explained only small teams were able to extract old source code from hard drives before the projects were canceled. Some early assets, such as menus and button icons with higher resolution textures was as far as the team seemed to have gotten in the games' development.
The aim of the remasters was reportedly nothing substantial, however, with the source saying the games would be close to their original 2010 and 2011 versions, featuring only "minor graphical enhancements/bugfixes." In fact, the source even described the projects as a "quick money-maker" that was intended to leach off the hype surrounding Insomniac's then-upcoming Spider-Man title for the PlayStation 4.
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions was originally released on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii and DS in 2010. The game featured four playable versions of Spider-Man across the Amazing, Noir, 2099 and Ultimate universes alongside voicework from Neil Patrick Harris and writing by Dan Slott. Shattered Dimensions was generally well-liked among critics who praised it for its unique worlds, engaging story and fast-paced if not repetitious old-school combat mechanics.
A year later saw the release of Spider-Man: Edge of Time on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, Nintendo DS and 3DS. The game picked up after the events of Shattered Dimensions, though this time only letting players switch between the original Spider-Man and his 2099 counterpart. Edge of Time played similarly to its predecessor, with writing from Peter David this time around and featuring voice work from Josh Keaton, Katee Sackhoff and Val Kilmer. Critics were generally disappointed in the lack of innovation on Shattered Dimensions' gameplay, however, though most enjoyed the story and voice acting.
Insomniac Games is the current developer of Spider-Man games, debuting with Marvel's Spider-Man on the PlayStation 4 in 2018. The game eventually saw an upgraded version on the PlayStation 5 alongside an expansion featuring Miles Morales in 2020. Insomniac is expanding into the Marvel video game universe with the studio's recently announced Spider-Man 2 and an all-new Wolverine game. So, with X-COM developer Firaxis Games working on the upcoming Midnight Suns tactical RPG, it doesn't appear as though Marvel is looking to make amends with Activision any time soon.
Source: Reddit