- Marvel’s Wolverine reportedly sells 1.9 million copies in three days, but falls short of Spider-Man 2’s launch numbers.
- Alinea Analytics' Rhys Elliott estimates Wolverine has already generated $130 million, but trails Spider-Man 2’s record 2.5 million first-day sales.
- However, he expects the new Marvel game to keep selling, boosted by the holidays and GTA 6 driving PS5 adoption.
PlayStation’s biggest first-party release of the year, Marvel’s Wolverine, has reportedly sold 1.9 million copies in its first three days, following its September 15 launch. Alinea Analytics analyst Rhys Elliott estimates a healthy start for Insomniac’s new game, though it has yet to match Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s launch sales.
According to Alinea Analytics’ Rhys Elliot on X, Marvel’s Wolverine generated $130 million in its first three days, with physical copies contributing $22.9% of the revenue. However, it still falls short of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s 2.5 million copies sold within the first 24 hours of launch on October 20, 2023.
Marvel’s Wolverine has already surpassed the estimated lifetime PS5 sales of Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, which sold 1.8 million copies and recently became a talking point following Sony’s decision to cancel PHYSINT.
Elliott says the game is already the best-performing new PlayStation Studios release on PS5 this year, outpacing MLB The Show, Marathon (review), Saros (review), and Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls. Given that earlier reports stated Marvel’s Wolverine dominated PS Store charts across multiple regions, this isn’t surprising.
The Alinea Analytics analyst notes that Wolverine’s top market is the US, which accounts for 53% of the player base, followed by the UK, France, and Canada. However, the core reason why the game couldn’t reach Spider-Man 2’s numbers is that it’s “limited by its mixed media and streamer reception.”
Recently, Insomniac received massive backlash for their new game, particularly due to its handholding nature, or as everyone calls it, the Marvel’s Wolverine “fart gas trail“. Elliott says that despite the backlash, the game will sell well, thanks to “the millions of more passive, mainstream players who make up the bulk of this audience.”
With Christmas around the corner and GTA 6 driving PS5 sales, Marvel’s Wolverine could see another boost over the festive season. But Elliott expects it to fall short of Spider-Man 2, which launched to stronger reviews and has remained “evergreen.” Now, we wait for Sony’s official launch figures for the latest Marvel game.
