Wolverine dominates sales despite the criticism: 1.9 million copies in three days

Marvel's Wolverine, the new PS5 exclusive from Insomniac Games, appears to have kicked off its commercial life with heavyweight numbers: 1.9 million copies sold and around $130 million in gross revenue in its first three days, according to Alinea Analytics estimates reported by Vandal. Sony has yet to put official figures on the table, so the data should be treated as an approximation, but the scale speaks for itself.

The news matters for two reasons. First, because the game arrives with a more divided reception than the studio is used to and with loud criticism on social media, and yet the public has answered with their wallets. Second, because the report offers a juicy piece of data on the split between physical and digital formats right when the debate over whether discs have a future on PlayStation is heating up.

What you need to know

• 1.9 million copies and around $130 million in three days, according to Alinea Analytics. Sony hasn't confirmed anything.
• One million of those sales come from digital pre-orders placed before launch.
• 22.9% of revenue is estimated to come from the physical format; the remaining 77.1%, from digital. Note: we're talking about money, not units.
• In just three days it reportedly surpassed the entire commercial run of Death Stranding 2 on PS5.
• All of this despite a lukewarm critical reception and complaints on social media.

A launch that ignores the noise

Insomniac came into this launch with a reputation as a reliable studio after its Spider-Man games, and the Wolverine name sells on its own. But the detail that catches our attention most is the pre-orders: more than half of the copies sold in these three days were already bought before anyone could read a review or watch a full gameplay video. That goes a long way toward explaining why the divided reception hasn't slowed the launch: the money was already in the register when the controversy began.

The comparison with Death Stranding 2 also says a lot. The Kojima Productions title is another PS5 exclusive from this generation, and the fact that Wolverine overtook it in three days, if the estimates are correct, makes it clear that a Marvel license plays in a different commercial league from an auteur project, no matter how much prestige the latter carries.

Physical vs. digital: the figure fueling the debate

Alinea clarifies that these percentages refer to revenue and not the exact number of units sold on disc, so the real proportion of physical copies could be different. Even so, nearly a quarter of the takings come from the physical format in a launch where half of the sales were digital pre-orders. That's no small thing: discs still have an audience, even if they carry less weight every year.

Our take

From the Underworld Lordz editorial team, we see a lesson here that goes beyond Wolverine. The digital pre-order model shields publishers from criticism: when a million people have already paid, the social media debate becomes background noise. As gamers, that makes us uncomfortable. Buying a full-price game blind, with no reviews and no way to resell it, is betting on a studio's reputation rather than on the product. Insomniac has earned it, sure, but the habit is dangerous when it becomes the norm.

For the team's content creators, the picture is different. A launch with this much traction and clashing opinions is pure gold for streams and videos: there's a massive audience and there's conversation. The first three days are the window where views are concentrated, and this launch confirms that the big Marvel licenses remain a magnet, with or without critical consensus.

On the physical format, our position is clear: the fact that nearly 23% of revenue comes from discs shows there's a segment of the audience that wants to own what they buy, lend it or resell it. Sony would do well not to write off a market that still leaves real money on the table, especially in regions of Latin America and Europe where a physical copy remains the most accessible way to play a game at launch.

What do you think?

Wolverine sold big before most people knew whether it was worth it, and the physical debate is back on the table. Do you pre-order games blind because you trust the studio, or do you wait for reviews and opinions? Drop by the team chat or our Discord and tell us which side you're on.