Spider-Man 2 on Xbox? Not Yet—Fans Misunderstood Sony's Multiplatform Strategy

There have been rumors that popular PlayStation-only games like Spider-Man and God of War might be coming to Xbox and Nintendo Switch 2. This has made many people wonder: Is the time for PlayStation-only games over? Well…not really. People misunderstood what Sony is doing here, and there has been a lot of misinterpretation, overreaction, and wrong thoughts.

All of these started when a job post for Sony showed up, and the internet went crazy. The initiative? Director of Multiplatform and Account Management at the senior level. It sounds businesslike, right? But one part of the job description made everyone nervous: the person who got the job would be in charge of PlayStation Studios' software titles on systems other than PlayStation, such as Steam, the Epic Games Store, Xbox, Nintendo, and mobile.

Fans thought right away that Sony was going full-on Xbox mode and throwing security out the window. Spider-Man, God of War, and even Wolverine from Marvel could make their debut on platforms other than PlayStation. But this was a standard case of reading outside of the text.

"Out-of-year" or "Mid-range" plan is what the job is all about. That means older games, not brand-new games that come out on day one, would be considered for release on multiple platforms. You should think of Spider-Man 2 coming to PC two years after the first game, not Wolverine dropping on Steam at launch.

Sony isn't doing this because they simply won't. One simple example is that Sony won't allow Xbox to put Helldivers 2 on Game Pass. And this strategy has kept Sony's numbers ahead of the rest of the competition. Sony has about 70% of the current-gen system market, with 75 million PS5s sold and 32 million Xbox Series X|S units. It's still the best.

Sony's strict policy about multiplatform release has caused studios to be unhappy in the past. Square Enix, for instance. They've been Sony's best friend for years, but even they have chosen to branch out and make Final Fantasy Remakes available on both PC and Xbox. Why? Final Fantasy XVI and FF7 Rebirth didn't sell very well. Profits weren't made from exclusive deals.

Despite being a massive success, Shift Up wasn't happy that Stellar Blade was a PS5 exclusive until they finally released it on Steam last month. Sony also saw Helldivers 2, which was their biggest hit of 2024, announce that it would be coming to Xbox. Arrowhead, the company that made it, said that PlayStation won't even release its next game because Tencent has put a lot of money into it.

And even though PS5 sales are huge, they've stopped growing. By March 2025, Sony said that its hardware sales had dropped 11% year-over-year. Why? A lot of people who want a PS5 already have one.

In a strange turn of events, the most popular PS5 game this year so far is... Forza Horizon 5. Yes, the racing game for Xbox. On PlayStation, it sold more copies than Monster Hunter Wilds, Assassin's Creed Shadows, and Death Stranding 2.

Sony's plan to make games work on multiple platforms has been in the works for a while, but not as much as people think. These days, the company has been pushing PC ports hard, and it's paying off. Stellar Blade did extraordinarily well after the Steam release, and older games like Days Gone, Horizon Zero Dawn, and God of War (2018) found new fans on Steam.

But, once more, this is all about making money in the long run, not giving up the PlayStation brand. And this is where the stress can finally go away. But do not think that Marvel's Wolverine, Spider-Man 3, or the next God of War game will be available on Xbox or Steam on the first day they come out. That's not going to happen.

Remember that the PlayStation Store brings in more money for Sony than selling consoles. And people will only shop at the store if they are already a part of the community. There would be no reason to stay a PlayStation user if all the games came out everywhere at the same time.

So, Sony isn't giving up on exclusives. By making older games work on other systems, Sony is able to make extra money without changing who it is. It's a smart way to make money, and Xbox has been doing it for years.