Marvel’s Wolverine Creative Director Now Working on Upcoming Xbox Game

Key Takeaways

Brian Horton leaves Marvel’s Wolverine to lead Xbox’s Perfect Dark, leading to rumors of a 2025 release.
The lead team has changed on the Wolverine project, with Spider-Man veterans Smith and Daly taking over creative roles.

Marvel’s Wolverine is getting a new creative direction as former director Brian Horton is now leading Xbox’s Perfect Dark. While news for Marvel’s Wolverine has been sparse, many rumors suggest that the title will come out in 2025. It has been a long time since it was first revealed in 2021, and some fans believe that there may be development issues behind the scenes.

Adding fuel to the rumors, a few key members of the team have moved on from the project. Marvel’s Wolverine‘s associate narrative director recently left Insomniac to join CD Projekt Red to work on something different. A few months prior, the art director for the game also left the company to pursue other jobs. The art director’s departure was treated as non-alarming news, as many assumed that the game’s art direction could have possibly been finalized in the span of several years. Now, a new report may cause some concern for fans of the upcoming PS5 exclusive title.

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With Brian Horton now moving on to Xbox’s Perfect Dark, Sony Interactive Entertainment confirmed to Game File that Marcus Smith and Mike Daly will be taking over duties on the Wolverine project. The duo previously held creative and game director roles for Insomniac’s Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and also worked on Marvel’s Spider-Man. With rumors that Marvel’s Wolverine is going to be showcased soon, fans are expecting the new members of the creative team to make a lot of interesting contributions to the development. The duo’s experience with games such as the Spider-Man titles will prove useful in their new roles.

What Games Have Marcus Smith and Mike Daly Worked On?

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart
Marvel’s Spider-Man
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Sunset Overdrive

The team of Daly and Smith worked so well during their time on Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. A 2021 interview with Mike Daly detailed how the focus was to make games accessible and enjoyable to a casual audience. This would also prove true in other games the duo worked on, as Marvel’s Spider-Man 2‘s wide range of accessibility options helped make it successful. Granted, the majority of titles the two have worked on had a lighter tone than Marvel’s Wolverine, so this may be the challenge they face in their new roles.

While no specific reason was given, it was said that the changes to the Wolverine development team were the result of creative decisions surrounding the game. While it is true that it has had little to no news in a span of four years, this doesn’t necessarily mean development issues from the inside. The changes of key team members could simply be a case of people who can add more value to the game’s direction. Many consider Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart as one of the most accessible games ever, so hopefully, Daly and Smith can bring that success over to Marvel’s Wolverine.