Despite massive criticism, “Wolverine” is Sony’s best-selling game of 2026
Marvel’s Wolverine is receiving heavy criticism online. Critics are complaining about the incomprehensible UI prompts, the excessive use of quick-time events, the monotonous platforming sections, and the mediocre combat system. Despite a Metacritic score of 77 – one of the lowest for a Sony game in years – it still seems to have sold well.
According to estimates from Alinea Analytics, Wolverine has sold 1.9 million copies to date, generating $130 million in revenue. This puts it ahead of all PlayStation Studios games released for the PS5 in 2026, including MLB The Show 26 (1.5 million copies sold on PS5 for $99 million), Marathon (1.8 million units sold across platforms for $60 million), Saros (510,000 units sold for $40 million), and Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls (740,000 units sold across platforms for $49 million).
Admittedly, this year hasn’t been a good one for Sony in terms of game sales. Marathon appears to be on the brink of crisis after recently losing its director, amid rumors of poor performance. Housemarque co-founder Ilari Kuittinen announced his departure from the company last month following poor sales of Saros. Tokon’s seemingly low sales figures sparked an online debate about what constitutes a “successful” fighting game. Overall, sales of Sony’s own games have declined sharply over the past five years, from 58.4 million units in fiscal year 2020 to 28.9 million in fiscal year 2024.
Why did Wolverine sell relatively well despite bad reviews?
Rhys Elliot of Alinea Analytics suggests that Wolverine’s success is due to the character’s general popularity, particularly in the US: Americans made up 53% of the player base, followed by the UK (7%), France (5%), and Canada (4%). Many players also ignore reviews and social media reactions and may therefore immediately buy a new Wolverine game, regardless of opinions.
However, Elliot also assumes that the rather weak reviews and poor reputation of Wolverine will negatively impact long-term sales figures and lead to a weaker performance compared to Insomniac’s Spider-Man games.
