Spider-Man became a PlayStation 4 exclusive because of Xbox: Marvel even broke its deal with Activision for this

Microsoft's gaming division essentially contributed to Sony acquiring Insomniac Games

According to Jay Ong, executive vice president of Marvel Games, the company had grown tired of the mediocre quality of games based on its universes developed by Activision, and began looking for a new partner to develop big-budget projects.

Marvel Games decided against turning to Nintendo, as the Big N has always lived in the world of its own franchises, so the choice came down to Sony and Xbox. Microsoft's gaming division turned Marvel down with its partnership proposal, explaining the decision by a desire to focus on its own IP, while Sony was more accommodating. For the sake of this deal, Marvel even rushed the termination of all agreements with Activision.

As a result, Sony tasked Insomniac Games, one of its most important partners at the time, with developing Spider-Man for the PS4. We all know how it turned out: the game sold over 20 million copies worldwide.