Marvel’s Wolverine may bring Sony’s remarkable Game of the Year nomination run to an end. Reviews published this week place Insomniac Games’ PlayStation 5 release at a middling 78 on Metacritic, with critics divided over its story and increasingly tired of its relentless combat.
A difficult path to a GOTY nomination
The result is below the usual standard for both Insomniac and Sony. No game with a Metascore below 80 has ever received a Game of the Year nomination, while licensed properties originating outside the games industry face another disadvantage. The rare exceptions include Insomniac’s own Spider-Man games.
That makes a nomination for Wolverine unlikely, even in a relatively soft year. The Game Awards jury is largely made up of international games media, so critical reception is an important indicator of which titles reach the final field.
Sony’s 11-year record
A missing nomination would be significant because Sony has appeared in the Game of the Year field every year since 2014. The first Game Awards ceremony was the sole exception. Sony’s major PlayStation exclusive that year was inFamous: Second Son, which earned an 80 Metacritic score, but it was not nominated.
Since then, Sony games have collected 14 nominations and three wins: God of War in 2018, The Last of Us Part 2 in 2020 and Astro Bot in 2024. Sony has also placed two games among the six nominees on three occasions. Nintendo is the only other publisher to achieve that, doing so twice.
A changing awards landscape
Sony’s success has been closely tied to cinematic action-adventures built around polished production, emotional storytelling and technical ambition. Its nominations have also included the family-friendly Astro Bot and Ratchet & Clank, as well as the more unusual Bloodborne. However, the broader list remains dominated by series such as Uncharted, The Last of Us, God of War, Horizon, Spider-Man, Death Stranding and Ghost of Tsushima.
The formula may be losing some of its influence as awards attention shifts towards distinctive role-playing games, including Elden Ring, Baldur’s Gate 3 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Reviews of Wolverine repeatedly raised concerns about familiar Sony-style conventions and the game’s narrow use of them.
A change of game directors two years before release suggests that Sony and Insomniac recognised development was not progressing as intended. The switch of game directors may have come too late to reshape the project fully.
Saros is Sony’s remaining 2026 hope
With Wolverine seemingly outside the race, Sony’s strongest remaining possibility is Housemarque’s Saros. The science-fiction shooter has a stronger Metacritic score of 87, although its smaller audience and demanding action focus could work against it with a broad awards jury.
Housemarque’s earlier game, Returnal, was not nominated in 2021, despite that year being considered a historically weak Game of the Year field. That precedent gives Saros a difficult challenge of its own.
Sony’s decision to end production of physical PlayStation games has also damaged the company’s reputation. The jury is unlikely to penalise individual developers or games directly for that decision, but the controversy cannot improve Sony’s position during a comparatively weak year.
What it means for Sony
If Wolverine misses out, Sony will be absent from the Game of the Year nominations for the first time since 2014. The result would underline how quickly awards preferences can shift, even for a publisher whose polished single-player adventures have shaped the modern console landscape.
For Australian players following the wider arcade and gaming news cycle, the story is a useful reminder that critical acclaim remains unpredictable. Whether you are comparing a new console release with an arcade machine or planning a dedicated games room, a strong brand is no guarantee of an award-season result.
Readers considering a new games-room setup can also consult RETROCADE’s Arcade Machine Buying Guide or explore compact bartop arcades for smaller spaces.
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