Following the release of Marvel's Wolverine, PS5 sales in the US market rose noticeably, with September sales up 22% year-over-year. Circana analyst Mat Piscatella believes this game was the primary driver of the recent growth.
Piscatella roughly estimates that Marvel's Wolverine accounted for about 70% of this growth surge, with GTA VI contributing around 30%. His reasoning is that the sales boost during Marvel's Wolverine's launch week was significantly higher than the increase seen after GTA VI's content reveal on Netflix. However, he emphasized that these figures are rough estimates rather than precise attribution data.
Developed by Insomniac Games, Marvel's Wolverine sold 2.5 million copies in the US last month, becoming the best-selling game there for the period. Although the title initially faced heavy online criticism over its accessibility options and visual design—with even the creator of God of War criticizing its lack of creativity—its commercial performance and ability to drive hardware sales a month after launch are changing public perception.
For comparison, GTA VI is also launching on Xbox Series X|S, yet Xbox hardware still recorded its worst September sales performance on record. Analyst estimates for Marvel's Wolverine suggest that exclusive content from major IPs can still directly influence players' hardware purchasing decisions.