Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales launched earlier this month alongside the PS5, and it was a solid follow up to the 2018 take on the iconic webslinger. It takes place in New York, as most Spider-Man related media does, but those with a keen eye may have noticed that one big building was missing. No, I’m not talking about the Baxter Building, I’m talking about the Chrysler Building. However, it was no mistake, it was all due to rights issues.
In a Game Informer interview with James Stevenson, the Community Director for Insomniac Games, he confirmed that the building was not included due to copyright problems. There was a change in ownership in 2019, which voided the previous agreement they had to portray the build. He didn’t get into specifics, but did say there were negotiations between them and the current owners, but it was not to be.
“When creating our representation of the city we wanted to include as many landmarks as we could to add to the sense of immersion. Sometimes negotiations to use those locations didn’t work out, which was the case with the Chrysler Building in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales.”
It may seem strange, but it’s actually not that uncommon. The iconic Hollywood Sign, for instance, has similar issues with being portrayed in media. Well, either way, with or without the Chrysler, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is available now on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.