It’s easily one of the biggest games of 2023 but on launch day some gamers may be left asking if Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is available on PS4. Sony may have shifted more than 40 million PS5 consoles (at the time of writing) but not everyone has upgraded to the current generation of gaming hardware.
While Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales was a cross-generation title that was released on both PS4 and PS5 that isn’t the case with Insomniac’s superhero sequel. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is not available on PS4 and no plans for a PS4 version have been announced.
Why? Sony has plenty of valid reasons though its need to shift more PS5 consoles and get gamers hooked into its newest hardware ecosystem is priority number one. What better way to do that than making your biggest upcoming titles PS5 exclusive? Or at least launching on PS5 first, then bringing them to PC a year or two later.
Of course, there’s a much less cynical reason. With the PS5 fast approaching its third anniversary, there is less and less incentive to develop games on last-gen hardware, potentially rubbing up against technical limitations. It may not be such a problem for smaller indie titles, but for a showcase flagship like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, catering to an ageing console can greatly limit your vision as a AAA developer. Whether it’s visual fidelity, performance, quicker loading times, or tech-heavy features, there are some things the PS5 can do that the PS4 just can’t. Insomniac haven’t elaborated on why Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is exclusive to PS5, simply saying that they are “pushing the capabilities of the console”.
While it would be nice for as many people to experience the sequel as possible, simultaneously developing two versions of the sequel would inevitably lead to compromises.
In our Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 review, Dom scored the superhero sequel a stellar 9/10, saying “Spider-Man 2 is a fantastic sequel, building on the excellent foundations of its forebear while delivering a story that drives these beloved characters forward.”
