Sony's ownership of Spider-Man (well, technically, just the movie rights to the character and the universe, but that's not the point) is well-known. And, while it has made excellent use of it in recent years at the global box office and in video games, it doesn't appear that it's stopping at that. In fact, Sony wants more, at least, in gaming.
Apparently, Sony has secured the exclusive video game rights to the X-Men. This exclusivity, as revealed through one of the biggest data breaches in recent memory, grants Sony the ability to develop and publish X-Men games until 2035. This deal positions Sony favorably again its competition, namely, Xbox.
The leaked documents from Insomniac Games, acquired through a ransomware attack, unveil Sony's comprehensive if anti-competitive plans for the X-Men franchise. The deal prohibits Marvel from releasing or announcing any new X-Men games on console, PC, or streaming platforms, preventing the use of the X-Men as exclusive to non-PlayStation console platform. This agreement effectively reserves the X-Men universe for Sony's gaming initiatives, allowing characters to appear in multi-family Marvel games but restricting their use as exclusive selling points on other platforms.
