Marvel’s Wolverine has become Sony’s best-selling game of 2026 so far, despite sustained criticism of its design and a relatively low review score for a PlayStation Studios release.
Players have criticised the game’s “fart trail” navigation prompts, frequent quick-time events, repetitive platforming and underwhelming combat. Its score of 77 on Metacritic is among the lowest for a Sony first-party game in several years, yet its launch sales appear comparatively strong.
Estimates from Alinea Analytics put Marvel’s Wolverine at 1.9 million copies sold so far, producing approximately $130 million in revenue. That places it ahead of every PlayStation Studios game released on PS5 during 2026.
How Wolverine compares with Sony’s other 2026 releases
The available estimates place Wolverine ahead of several other major Sony releases:
- MLB The Show 26: 1.5 million PS5 copies and $99 million in revenue.
- Marathon: 1.8 million copies across all platforms and $60 million in revenue.
- Saros: 510,000 copies and $40 million in revenue.
- Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls: 740,000 copies across all platforms and $49 million in revenue.
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A difficult year for Sony game sales
Wolverine’s position at the top of Sony’s 2026 sales rankings also reflects a challenging year for the company. Marathon has reportedly faced serious difficulties, including the departure of its director amid rumours of weak performance.
Housemarque co-founder Ilari Kuittinen announced his departure from the studio in August 2026, after Saros reportedly sold poorly. Meanwhile, the sales performance of Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls prompted online debate about the benchmarks that should define success for a fighting game.
Across the wider first-party portfolio, Sony’s sales declined from 58.4 million units in fiscal year 2020 to 28.9 million in fiscal year 2024. That broader downturn gives Wolverine’s early performance additional context, even if its long-term results remain uncertain.
Why has Wolverine sold so well?
Alinea Analytics analyst Rhys Elliot suggested that the character’s broad popularity is a major factor, particularly in the United States. American players represented 53% of the game’s player base, followed by the United Kingdom at 7%, France at 5% and Canada at 4%.
Another explanation is that many buyers do not closely follow review scores, social-media criticism or online discussion. For those players, a new Wolverine game may be enough to motivate a purchase regardless of the surrounding controversy.
That reputation could still affect the game’s staying power. Elliot expects the negative critical response and poor online sentiment to weigh on its longer-term sales, potentially leaving it behind Insomniac’s Spider-Man games.
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