Hermen
Hulst

Sony Interactive Entertainment’s in-house studios saw a quiet 2023 under Hulst — except for Insomniac. Following the first game in 2018 and 2020’s “Miles Morales,” “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2” launched in October and sold 2.5 million units in 24 hours, making it the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios title. While separate from Sony Pictures Entertainment’s “Spider-Man” films, the Marvel IP has undeniable synergy across Sony Group. “No Way Home” in 2021 was a film-franchise best, and the characters of Miles Morales and Kraven were crucial to the newest game’s narrative in a year that saw SPE film “Across the Spider-Verse” rock the box office before “Kraven the Hunter” and “Beyond the Spider-Verse” were delayed, making Insomniac’s game the obvious destination for fans wanting more from the IP. Beyond Spidey, newly acquired PlayStation studio Firewalk is prepping “Concord” for 2024, marking the first big AAA test for PlayStation’s live-service push under Hulst after SIE revealed half of its 12 planned live services wouldn’t hit their targets by fiscal-year 2025, including a game set within “The Last of Us” that was fully scrapped. Also due is multiplayer game “Helldivers II,” which bows in February, and farther down the line is “Marvel’s Wolverine,” many details of which were reportedly published by hackers after a massive breach of Insomniac’s servers in December.