Insomniac Games is on a bit of a roll with making superhero games and looks to be adding Marvel's Wolverine to its growing roster of classics. With the success of Marvel's Spider-Man, it seems like a no-brainer for the PlayStation studio to replicate its success with another, popular Marvel character. With the introduction of mutants in the MCU and the Deadpool & Wolverine movie, it seems like the perfect time for such a project. It helps that single-player PlayStation exclusives have a good reputation too, since many have been released with critical acclaim.
In general, Insomniac and Sony have been rather tight-lipped around the Marvel's Wolverine project, even despite a few leaks of early alpha gameplay. Officially, very little has been released since the announcement trailer way back during the 2021 PlayStation Showcase, and this makes sense, given that there isn't a release date for the game and players could wait until 2026. Still, the game will be a PlayStation exclusive, and this could end up being a problem that will hinder the game's success.
Marvel's Wolverine PS5 Exclusivity Could Be A Huge Mistake
PlayStation Exclusives Aren't Selling As Well As Expected
In of quality, PlayStation has been on a roll with many of its exclusives in the PS5 era with its exclusives. Titles like Marvel's Spider-Man 2, God of War Ragnarök, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth have delivered on what players had hoped for while looking amazing with the added visual capabilities of the PS5, but that doesn't mean these exclusives are selling as well as hoped. Clearly, these games haven't been failures in of sales, and many have exceeded expectations in of quality, but FF7 Rebirth didn't perform as Square Enix hoped.
FF7 Rebirth doesn't have a release date for its PC port, but it might not get one before its launch. The FF16 PC port got a quiet launch on Steam without much fanfare.
With Insomniac's recent track record, there isn't much of a reason to believe that Marvel's Wolverine won't be another hit in of its quality, but FF7 Rebirth and FF16, in particular, have shown that quality doesn't always translate to hopeful sales.
Again, if something is good, it probably won't fail if it has the Marvel IP behind it, but if Marvel's Wolverine is going to be a PS5 exclusive there is a possibility it won't sell as expected. The game will have an immense budget, if Marvel's Spider-Man 2's mouth-watering $300 million budget is anything to go by.
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A reason for the relative lack of sales could be that PlayStation exclusives don't tend to stay exclusive for very long. PC players in particular, who tend to be the biggest demographic for most games, have seen an influx of PlayStation titles recently, and are not having to wait as long for them to end up on Steam. PC players might just wait, instead of getting a PS5, for Marvel's Wolverine, knowing that it will end up on Steam in a year or two, especially because single player PlayStation titles tend to have great ports.
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Very few games are genuinely PS5 exclusives, as of this writing. God of War Ragnarök is hitting PC soon, while Final Fantasy 16, both Horizon Zero Dawn games, and Ghosts of Tsushima are all a part of Steam's library. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and FF7 Rebirth are still exclusive, but this likely won't be the case for much longer.
And it doesn't help that Xbox is trying its hardest to make exclusivity a thing of the past. For instance, the Indiana Jones game is going to be on PS5, despite being made by an Xbox studio.
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Another problem Marvel's Wolverine will have is when it will release. If it ends up taking until 2026 to come out, the next generation of consoles might not be that far away. Previous generations, like the PS3 and PS4, lasted for around six years before the next generation came knocking, and by 2026, the PS5 generation will have lasted six years (it was released in late 2020). Although the game will release on PS5, it could end up getting a definitive edition if it is close enough to the PS6's launch to give the new console a game.
Many players may just decide to stay on a PC instead of dealing with a game in the awkward, transitional period between console generations. Even if Marvel's Wolverine comes out in 2025, PC players who never got a PlayStation will likely just wait for a PC port, especially since the PS5 is getting toward the end of its tenure.
Insomniac Games has made a great PC Port too with the first Spider-Man game, so it isn't like PC players will get a worse version of the game. They just have to wait a little longer.
Marvel's Wolverine Will Likely Still Be A Success
Insomniac Might Have To Wait For A PC Port To Get The Best Numbers
As long as Insomniac delivers with Marvel's Wolverine quality, the game will likely perform alright and get back the budget. It will be helped by Wolverine and Deadpool's introduction into the MCU, especially if more is done with the X-Men and the Mutants. Wolverine is the mascot for the X-Men for a reason and the perfect figure to make a game about, so it isn't as though the game will be a risk for Sony, but exclusivity is likely to hinder more than help.
Insomniac have confirmed that Marvel's Wolverine will be in the same world as the Spider-Man games.
Traditionally, exclusives are meant to help sell a console. Xbox has given up on this because the consoles haven't sold all that well, unlike PlayStation's, but it is being hurt by its rival trying to remove exclusivity as a whole.
The PS5 is closer to the end of its generation than its start, and everyone who wants a PS5 has likely got one by now. Marvel's Wolverine will likely not help many more be sold, and it is going to be a PS5 title, meaning that it probably won't help with the PS6's launch either.
In general, exclusivity seems to affect different companies in different ways, since Nintendo Switch exclusives don't seem to have any problems with sales, while PS5 exclusives are beginning to suffer. It isn't as though these PS5 games are below par in of quality, which is a problem that Xbox has been having but, with the immense budgets these titles demand, they need immense sales. Marvel's Wolverine is no exception and will likely find its way to Steam soon after to boost these sales.
Source: Insomniac Games/YouTube
