Scoop: PlayStation's Wolverine creative director is now leading Xbox’s Perfect Dark

Ratchet & Clank leads now overseeing Wolverine

Marvel’s Wolverine and Perfect Dark. Images: Insomniac, SIE / The Initiative, Crystal Dynamics / Microsoft

Two major upcoming first-party video games have gotten big changes at the top, as part of an unusual leadership shuffle, Game File has learned.

Brian Horton, who was publicly named as the creative director of Sony/Insomniac’s upcoming Marvel’s Wolverine PS5 game in 2021, has been off the project since the summer, two sources familiar with the matter told Game File.

The game is now being helmed by creative director Marcus Smith, a rep for Sony Interactive Entertainment has confirmed to Game File. Mike Daly will serve as Wolverine’s new game director.

(Wolverine’s previously announced game director, Cameron Christian, will remain at the studio in a different role, Game File understands.)

Smith and Daly are a formidable new duo for Wolverine. They previously held creative director and game director roles, respectively, on Insomniac’s acclaimed 2021 PS5 release Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.

The changes atop the Wolverine development team are the result of creative decisions around the game, the two sources told Game File. SIE’s rep declined to comment on the reason for the role changes on Wolverine.

As for Horton, who previously worked as the creative director on another lauded Insomniac game, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, he has already found a new high-profile gig.

He’s the new creative director of the Xbox-published Perfect Dark, the highly-anticipated first-person shooter that is being co-developed by Microsoft’s The Initiative and Embracer-owned Crystal Dynamics. Horton will be “bringing his wealth of experience to the upcoming reboot of the classic secret agent series,” an Xbox rep confirmed to Game File.