Marvel's Wolverine cracks PlayStation's top 10 despite mixed reviews

Marvel's Wolverine, Insomniac Games' new single-player superhero action title, launched on September 15 and has already carved out a notable spot in the US engagement charts — despite a critical reception that landed somewhere between solid and divisive.

For the week ending September 19, analytics firm Circana placed Wolverine seventh on its Top 10 Titles by weekly active users on PlayStation in the US — sitting between Marvel Rivals in sixth and Minecraft in eighth. It's the only single-player game in that top 10, surrounded entirely by live-service juggernauts like NBA 2K27, Fortnite, and Roblox. Circana's Mat Piscatella noted that the average US player logged 14.2 hours with the game that week, ranking it in the top 20 across all PlayStation titles. On the sales side, estimates put Wolverine at 1.9 million units sold through as of September 18 — reportedly enough to already surpass the lifetime PS5 sales of Death Stranding 2 within just a few days of launch. Sony hasn't issued official sales figures yet.

Insomniac's Wolverine is a notably different beast from Marvel's Spider-Man — it's a tighter, more linear experience without an open world, and most players can finish it within a week. New Game Plus adds some replayability with new skills, but the commercial long tail is naturally shorter. Alinea Analytics' Rhys Elliott put it plainly: mixed media and streamer reception will cap the tail, but secondary bumps from MCU X-Men marketing, holiday gifting, and new PS5 owners hunting for graphical showcases will keep it moving. Elliott also pointed out that the loudest online backlash tends to sail over the heads of mainstream buyers who'll pick it up for the brand or find it under the Christmas tree. The game did draw some early criticism over its scent trail mechanic used to guide players to collectibles — Insomniac responded with hotfixes that toned those down.

GameSpot scored Wolverine 8/10, with editor-at-large Tamoor Hussain calling it "fun but forgettable." Whether that verdict sticks commercially remains to be seen, but the first week numbers suggest the Marvel brand still carries serious weight with PlayStation's mainstream audience.