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Why isn't Marvel's Wolverine an open-world game? We asked its director

"It was definitely on the table."

In this promo image for Marvel's Wolverine, Logan wears yellow and black armour while shouting with his claws raised.

Insomniac Games / Marvel

Published: Sunday, 13 September 2026 at 8:00 am

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The Wolverine PS5 game is launching very soon, and given that its developers previously made three open-world Spider-Man games, you might be expecting more of the same this time.

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However, we can confirm that Marvel's Wolverine is not an open-world game by any stretch of the imagination.

One of the major differences from Spider-Man is that there’s no wide open city to explore here. Instead, Wolverine all about linear missions in the classic action-game fashion.

What gives? We had the chance to ask a key developer exactly that, so keep on reading and we'll let them explain the decision.

Why isn't Marvel's Wolverine an open-world game?

Marvel's Wolverine is not an open-world game because the developers believe that it wouldn't suit the character.

You wouldn't feel like Wolverine anymore if you were constrained by one location, as opposed to being on a globe-hopping adventure to multiple locations.

Mike Daly, game director on Marvel's Wolverine, told us as much when we spoke to him before the game's launch.

Daly admitted that “a lot of Insomniac fans expected an open world, so it was definitely on the table, and we evaluated all the possibilities".

“Ultimately, we arrived at the conclusion that, if we look at our favourite Wolverine stories, they're globe-hopping adventures. This is a character that goes around the world, and is not anchored to a place.”

Daly continued: “The closer, more intimate perspective we wanted to have, that got you up close during combat, it all pointed in the direction of, ‘The game's pacing would suffer too much if we had these open world areas’.

“You wouldn't feel like Wolverine anymore. That would feel like a scenario that's in the game in order to satisfy game-mechanic needs, rather than serving the thing that's on the title of the box.”

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That’s not to say there aren’t moments of zippy traversal in the game, particularly in the nightmare sequences that Wolverine can explore as side missions.

That stuff feels like vintage Insomniac, harking back not just to Spidey but also to Sunset Overdrive. But it’s very much a sideshow here.

If you're looking for an open-world game, remember that Insomniac's previous titles are very much readily available, and it's okay for them to try something new!

Read more on Marvel's Wolverine:

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Authors

Black and white cut-out portrait headshot of Rob Leane, smiling against a lime green background.

Rob LeaneGaming Editor

Rob Leane is the Gaming Editor at Radio Times, overseeing our coverage of the biggest games on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC, mobile and VR. Rob works across our website, social media accounts and video channels, as well as producing our weekly gaming newsletter. He has previously worked at Den of Geek, Stealth Optional and Dennis Publishing.

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