New leak just dropped

 

What is this, a yearly occasion? I swear it was about this time last year that the Internet was gathering around to take a naughty look at the GTA VI leaks before swearing blind that they never once saw them for fear of being hunted down by Rockstar's team of elite assassins. And here we are again, discussing another leak of- would you believe it- even larger proportions! Not because this is a bigger company or a bigger game, per se- that would be literally impossible. Rather because this is perhaps one of the worst leaks of information I think we've ever seen, where there's so much floating around the web right now I'm genuinely fearful for the safety of the staff- yes, it goes that deep! And, well- someone is probably going to be losing their job for failing safety protocols- that one is pretty much for certain.

You've probably already seen the headlines, and it is fact- Insomniac games got themselves held ransom by a hacker collective who made off with 1.67 terrabytes worth of data that they held for a $2 million bounty. Paid in Crypto, of course, were it the case that Insomniac handed over the money. As it happens they didn't, whether out of bravado, fear, or because Sony told them not to, and the consequence has been the most horrendous tidal wave of leaked information one could imagine. If Grand Theft Auto's leak was like a natural disaster for the development team, you can call this a unnatural apocalypse- there is no way this isn't going to have a huge effect on the development process as the team scrambles to get ahold of just how much is in the public hands. And the biggest leak out of this mess? The unrevealed Wolverine game.

Well, 'unrevealed' is a bit of an overstatement. We had a gameplay-deprived teaser trailer announcing the team got the go-ahead to make the thing at some point- but I don't think anyone expected that our first glimpse of engine running footage would be unfinished pre-alpha testing stuff. This is pretty much the worst possible scenario for any marketing team, and I can only imagine the developers have locked away all internet access, for no other clearer reason than perhaps to save themselves from inevitable brain rot takes of' "Pff, this game dun look too good!" There's no saving it. Some truly unevolved strains of direct neanderthalian blood have already started their ragging on the visuals, animations and general aesthetic of this game that hasn't even made it to it's first ultrasound yet, let alone been born. Apparently these geniuses all looked like sculpted Michelangelo in the womb! I mean afterall, what was it that cretin said last time? "Duh, visuals are the first thing completed in game development! Everyone noes dat!" Some genepools have obviously spread too far.

Want to know what's even more depressing to hear? Apparently some of the files leaked were working builds of the early alphas. Of course none of this software has been published into workable executables outside of a developer kit PS5- but if anyone happens to have their hands on such a piece of hardware, (which isn't exactly common but you know how resourceful Internet people can be) then they could feasibly play this early build for themselves. What's worse than a leak of footage? A potential infinite font of leaks that are made fresh because of the stolen game files. That's enough to drive a man to drink, or maybe just early retirement.

Of course we've also heard news on general release dates of topics which has revealed some upsetting trends. I'm sure Hideo Kojima is just giddy to hear that this project we heard announced a year ago wasn't planning to make a debut until 2026! Isn't that just lovely? More games that get themselves fancy trailers when their still glints in their publisher's eyes, leading on people by a spaghetti thread of hype through most of a damned decade! Because that's a reasonable amount of time to expect to fill someone's headspace! Seriously- what is the benefit of these stupidly early reveals? Let other, closer, titles take the spotlight fully whilst you fiddle about with your overblown 200 million dollar masturbatory AAA why don't you! God, I'm sick of this industry's marketing stupidity. 

The leaks also reach out to Insomniac's entire release library for the coming years meaning we also know about Venom, their return to one of their beloved old school franchises and even another dream game that I won't spoil here, but provided the team make it until 2030- it will be quite the major Marvel gaming event. I would be excited but... well, I honestly expecting the Nuclear Fallout to wash over us and send us to Bethesda land before we reach the 2030's. (God, it is insane that gaming has reached the point where we're planning seven years ahead! How long do you think Bethesda are planning, considering they think Starfield is going to live on until 2033?) Oh, and we also know that the team aren't abandoning the Spider-Man franchise for their other key projects. They want to wrap that whole thing up before moving onto their next franchise. (At least that's job security for ya.)

But here's the crazy thing. Personal, identifiable information about the actual development staff at Insomniac found itself into these leaks, essentially doxing the workers of this project to the entire internet full of mount-breathing wierdoes who likely wouldn't pass a psyche evaluation to join the army. (And is it really hard to fail an army psyche eval.) I mean sure, 99% of people looking at all these leaks couldn't care less about that stuff. But the 1% who do look it up? Well, they're likely the same 1% who are only currently with the rest of us on the internet right now as a stop gap on their way to a small box in an institute. Penal or otherwise. Real people's safety has potentially been put into jeopardy hear and that is not a matter that should just be brushed over!

Overall, this has been one hell of a bad week for the fellows at Insomniac games- probably vastly out shadowing their recent nominations for best game of the year. You just really don't expect to receive a blow to the testes like this when you sit down to make a project, and I know that personally I would rather chew out someone's eyes than show them an uncompleted little draft of a piece that I'm writing. Nothing is worse than that feeling of all your insecurities laid bare before you've had to appropriately pave over them with professionalism and grit. I can't say I'm personally excited for the prospect of seeing some of these belated release dates get themselves knocked back as well, although considering Insomniac's track record I wasn't going to be playing Wolverine until 2031 anyway, so I'm not exactly weeping either. They still don't deserve this however, just to be clear.  

Insomniac Wolverine

 I'm the best at what I do, but what I do best isn't very nice

There's something to be said about cultivating a reputation for quality. It's pretty much all that Sony have troubled themselves with for the last few console generations, and when you take a look at the returns it has granted them you can absolutely understand their reasoning. Countless units moved, top of console race for over half a decade now, fans beating themselves silly trying to get their hands on the new console; Sony is in a great place. And it all comes back to the way that they've secured exclusives so fine you could slice a leaf along a river bed with them. And it hasn't been this garish monopolisation move of running around and buying pretty looking games for their store, (like the bores over at Epic seem to think it's about) Sony have invested in studios, cultivated talent and homebrewed a generation's worth of classic games from loyalist studios. In doing so they've turned household name studios into absolute legends of the Industry. (Shame they refuse to do so for any indie studio out there, but I guess Sony it a bit 'elitist' in that regard.)

Now Insomniac games were by no means nobodies before the great Playstation renaissance, they has some absolute Classic Playstation franchises under their belt for years beforehand. Ratchet and Clank, Spyro, Resistance, those are the sorts of games that inspire armies of adoration from their darling fans. But even then they were just a teeny bit 'cult' in their following. Don't get me wrong, all of those series' have met with huge successes and spawned sprawling legacies to back up those success', but they weren't hitting the mainstream quite as hard as those flagships that everyone thinks of first when they think 'gaming'. Which was completely fine, of course, because back then that spot was only really reserved for the stupidly successful like Mario, Call of Duty and later Minecraft. But one Insomniac Games has always been is loyalist, and that has served them incredibly well these last few years.

Having not owned a PlayStation since the PS2, my last interaction with Insomniac's work wasn't really all that transformative for my opinion on them, considering it was 'Sunset Overdrive'. (One of only three games that Insomniac have allowed to be released on Xbox) Now I know that Sunset Overdrive has its fans out there, and I'll be the first to say that the game is beautiful and stands up even today for that regard alone, but my-oh-my I couldn't stand listening to that game for a second longer. The creator's tired to imbue the spirit of the game with the irreverent carefree unconventional chaos of inspirations like Tank Girl and... 'The Young Ones'? (I love that show) But it just never felt natural for me, more like a synthetic wannabe. I mean, how can you base the heart of your art piece around 'Counter culture' influences when your game is being paraded around by Xbox bigwigs and is flying from ever banner and advertising slot that Microsoft can afford. It spoke to a spiritual imbalance that really affected my time trying to get into the game. Still, the actual game itself was quality.

Around the time of Overdrive something was really siding into place over at Insomniac, that game alone had earned them a bigger spotlight then I remember them every really having, (which I think was simply because Microsoft was chuffed to have their talents) but they would never release another AAA game without a comparable or greater level of fanfare. Their next big console game would be the PS4's Rachet and Clank, a game which Sony rode as a system seller, followed in the next year by Marvel's Spiderman, which was a huge system seller! As they currently stand, Insomniac have reached that level of fame that I was talking about, where their games are now synonymous with the concept of  'gaming' for their sheer quality and cultural proliferation alone. (Although the millions in Sony-funded marketing did it's part to signal boost, I'll bet.)

Now, in the wake of what looks like a concerted effort to start a video game universe in order to compliment their cinematic one, Marvel and Sony seem to have definitively looked to Insomniac to be their trailblazer. (Not exclusively to Insomniac, mind. But it's pretty clear that the first-pick opportunities are arriving on their doorstep) Just think about how much of a responsibility that is, one of the world's largest and most successful entertainment franchises are putting their efforts on your door; it just goes to show you the absolute transformation which Insomniac has undergone from an already great studio into a truly legendary one. They are now the arbiters of Sony's oh-so-important Spiderman brand, and as was revealed during the last Sony event, they've just taken Wolverine under their wing too. (So comic's breakout star alongside X-men's breakout star. They sure know how to bag the best characters, huh?)

And even with that practically empty reveal trailer, which doesn't even do so much as tell us whether we'll be seeing classic short wolverine or Hugh-Jackman-inspired tall wolverine, there's not a single person out there worried about Insomniac's ability to nail this. (They've earned that trust over the years.) Wolverine has only ever seen one other game totally dedicated to him, and that was the movie tie in to that awful 'Origins' movie. At the very least that last game managed to bring the gore one would hope for from a Wolverine project. (or at least, I would hope for) Insomniac have been tight-lipped so far on the 'gore' front, although they have claimed this is going to be a mature rated game, and one that will be something closer to full length than their 'Spiderman Miles Morales' title. (So maybe gore-strewn hope abounds?)

What I hope for in this entry would be for Insomniac to do something similar to what they did with Spiderman, in that it was a story they didn't tell from the beginning. Although Wolverine's character origins aren't nearly as plundered poor as Spiderman's origins, I just think that telling the start of a heroes journey in general is overdone and devoid of opportunities for originality and pushing new storylines that take our favourite characters and put them in different lights. (Besides, which origin would they even tell? Would we go James Howlett and Alpha Flight? Does anyone other than me still remember that origin story?) That doesn't mean I'm demanding that Insomniac sit down and adapt Old Logan to their game, but that I'd prefer a Wolverine story closer to that side of the character than towards his boringly inconsistent origins. Let the lone wolf shine on his own being the unstrained murder machine that others try to stop him from being, do that and I have real optimism for what this new title can achieve.

So another notch is added to the Insomniac broach of excellence, as that once-little company swells to take on bigger and bigger challenges. They grow any more ambitious than this and we'll have to start worrying about the inevitable fall-off when greed takes over the desire to create quality. (It happens to everyone in time.) But until then we will all just marvel (hah) at a team forever redefining what it is to make a triple A game, and in some instance proving to be the great hope for lovers of single player experiences. All I wish now is that I could get genuinely excited about one day playing the game, but given the fact that the next generation consoles are about as mythical as planet Nibiru down in this sorry swamp of a county, I can't really get my hopes up. (Oh well, as least I can be excited to watch some cool second hand gameplay once the thing releases...)