Spider-Man 2’s creative director addressed the debate over the video game’s price and length that erupted ahead of its release.
Fans looking forward to Insomniac Games’ latest release erupted in conversation when someone who played before the October 20th release date leaked that it took about 25 to 30 hours to reach the Platinum Trophy (basically 100% completion). Some fans noted that it was similar to the original game and therefore fine, while others were upset after finding Spider-Man 2 too short for its full price tag. Five members of the IGN team revealed their completion time in our How Long is Spider-Man 2? article. Our fastest player completed the story in 18 hours. Our “slowest” player spent 25 hours before the credits rolled.
“For us, it really comes down to the experience we want to deliver with the quality we want to achieve,” said Insomniac’s Bryan Intihar. BBC. “Obviously there’s a level of ‘hey, somebody’s going to spend that much money on a game,’ so we want to give them an experience that’s worth it.”
Spider-Man 2 is a full-price PlayStation 5 game, meaning it costs $69.99. That’s the same price as Elden Ring (which has a platinum time of 80 to 100 hours), Baldur’s Gate 3 (over 100 hours), and Diablo 4 (150 to 200 hours).
It’s also the same price as a lot of critically acclaimed games that can be 100% completed in similar or less time, and Intihar said that for Insomniac, it’s less about completion time and more about quality. “Our job is to make sure you feel that no matter how long it is, it’s worth the money, it’s worth the investment,” he said.
However, Insomniac will look to add more value after the release of Spider-Man 2. It’s releasing a New Game Plus mode along with some other new features by the end of 2023, though no full DLC has been confirmed yet.
In our 8/10 review of the game, IGN said, “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 delivers Insomniac’s best story yet, and while its open world falls short, it’s a reliably fun superhero power trip.”
Ryan Dinsdale is a freelance reporter for IGN. He’ll be talking about The Witcher all day.
