IndustryGamers - Informing the Games Industry

Marvel and Activision Reveal Spider-Man: Edge of Time

Posted March 31, 2011 by M.H. Williams

Activision and Marvel announced today the second Spider-Man title in Beenox’s ongoing stewardship of the franchise, Spider-Man: Edge of Time.  The game utilizes themes presented in Beenox’s Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, once again putting players in the shoes of Spider-Man and his futuristic counterpart Spider-Man 2099.

"The first Spider-Man entry by Beenox, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions was touted as one of the wall-crawler's best Spider-Man games to date from both critics and fans," said Vicharin Vadakan, Director, Global Brand Management. "Beenox is once again taking a fresh and different approach to bring a fast-paced and high-octane adventure and unexpected story to life in Spider-Man: Edge of Time."

Former Spider-Man scribe and Spider-Man 2099 co-creator Peter David will be writing the story for the title. The untimely death of Peter Parker spells doom for the future and both Spider-Men must work together to fix the problem.  Players’ actions in the present will lead to new and interesting effects in the future.

"At Beenox, we are constantly listening to the fans and looking for new and creative ways to innovate the gameplay experience for them," said Dee Brown, Studio Head, Beenox.  "We want to create a totally distinct experience in Spider-Man: Edge of Time by working with Peter David on the story and creating this urgent, high-stakes experience where time is working against you and the fate of Spider-Man hangs in the balance."

Previously, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick noted that the publisher’s Spider-Man games, developed by Treyarch, Vicarious Visions, Next Level and Shaba Games, had “sucked for the last five years”.  Vicarious Visions is on life support, Shaba Games is now defunct, Next Level’s last title was Transformers: Cybertron Adventures for the Wii and Treyarch has become one of Activision’s Call of Duty houses.  Prior to being handed the Spider-Man franchise, Beenox was one of Activision’s studios for ports to platforms like PC and Wii.  Spider-Man: Edge of Time is expected sometime this fall. 

M.H. Williams has been writing in some form or another for ten years and has been a hardcore gamer since the NES first graced American shores.  You can catch him on Twitter as @AutomaticZen, Google+ as himself, or on his personal Facebook page.