A Missing Icon: Spider-Man 2’s Lost Chrysler Building
By almost every conceivable metric, Spider-Man 2, the new video game developed by Insomniac Games, is a success. Commercially, it is already 2023’s fourth best-selling video game in the U.S., only a month after its release.[1] It sold more than five million copies in 11 days,[2] and it became the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game over a 24-hour span, selling more than 2.5 million copies in that time.[3] Critically, it has also achieved widespread recognition, currently holding a score of 90 (“Universal Acclaim”) on Metacritic.[4] And yet, to anyone who has played the game and is familiar with its setting––New York City––something might feel… off.
Perhaps this is because one of the city’s most iconic structures is missing while swinging through Manhattan’s storied skyscrapers: the Chrysler Building.[5] When it was completed in May of 1930, the Chrysler Building stood at 1,046 feet;[6] almost instantly, it became one of the city’s most iconic and beloved buildings.[7] The number of films, TV shows, books, and video games the building has appeared in is nearly too exhaustive to list. Infamously, the building’s impressive height resulted from a precarious and heated skyscraper race,[8] reflecting a period when money and ambition seemed limitless.[9] But its height is only part of the building’s appeal––the structure is dressed in a stunning art deco style, graced with glittering lights around its terraced crown.[10] Despite the Chrysler Building’s importance on New York’s skyline, it is nevertheless missing from Spider-Man 2.[11]
For anyone following recent news surrounding the building, this may not come as a surprise. Recently, the skyscraper has gone through a somewhat tumultuous period of ownership. From 2008, the Abu Dhabi Investment Council owned nearly 90 percent of the building, along with New York-based Tishman Speyer Properties.[12] In 2019, the building was sold for $190 million and co-purchased by SIGNA Group, an Austrian company, and RFR Holdings LLC, a New York real estate development company.[13] Of course, architectural works are protected under the 1990 Copyright Act, stated as “the design of a building as embodied in any tangible medium of expression, including a building, architectural plans, or drawings,”[14] and the Chrysler Building is indeed protected by copyright.[15] Thus, as the owners of the copyright, it is likely that the current owners of the Chrysler Building were not open to letting the developers of Spider-Man 2 put the building in the game.[16]
At first glance, the Chrysler Building’s absence in the game may seem inconsequential. However, the structure is a crucial part of the city’s skyline and identity, and the blocking of such a monument signals a more prominent concern about limitations from copyright holders on artistic depictions of iconic locations and settings.[17] Just as it is essential to film, TV, and books, a video game’s setting is often vital to its narrative, mechanics, and atmosphere. In an earlier Spider-Man game, players could actively climb on and photograph the Chrysler Building.[18] Unlike film or television, where filmmakers can cut away from an iconic monument before infringing on the copyright due to fair use, video games––especially open-world games like Spider-Man 2––allow the player to view the monuments for unlimited amounts of time, thus posing a higher risk of infringement.[19]
Ultimately, video games and their settings shouldn’t be punished for allowing players to move freely around their environments. Of course, it must be recognized that architectural copyright holders should be able to protect and profit from their properties. Nevertheless, perhaps a balance can be found that allows game developers to include such properties and not be impeded in creating the best virtual worlds possible. For now, players will have to swing through New York’s streets without some of the city’s most important icons.
Footnotes
