Analyst: 35% of Marvel's Wolverine Sales Were Physical Discs

According to retail data from Ampere Analysis (reported via The Game Business), 35% of Marvel's Wolverine sales were on physical discs. The tracking firm monitors sales across major global markets.

The data indicates Wolverine moved 2.16 million units in September (launching September 15), with a substantial share coming from boxed copies. In Europe, 51% of sales were physical. Breaking it down further, over two-thirds were physical in France, while two-thirds were digital in the UK.

This news arrives amid Sony's controversial plan to end physical disc production for PlayStation by 2028, which triggered an online backlash and calls for a reversal from organizations advocating for physical media.

"If platform owners are deciding to eliminate physical media and older digital storefronts, then we'd also like to see trade groups like the Entertainment Software Association offer meaningful solutions for archives and museums to legally preserve digital-only content and make it accessible for research," the Video Game History Foundation stated.

Earlier this month, former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden questioned Sony's decision, saying: "I do think, particularly in the gaming realm, maybe 80% of the people download and 20% don't, whatever that breakdown might be, but that's a super important 20%. I mean, that is largely the most faithful of the faithful, that is, many times, the people who buy two copies of every game, one never gets out of the shrink wrap, and you play the other one."

However, there's no sign Sony will change course. In July, Sony acknowledged "strong views" from the community but insisted it wouldn't budge. Meanwhile, the year's biggest game has no physical version. There are no plans for a disc version of GTA 6, and even the special edition contains only a code in an otherwise empty box.

Insomniac's brutal superhero game was the second best-seller on PS5 last month, beaten only by EA Sports FC 27. EA's soccer game sold close to 5 million copies on PS5 and 1.65 million on Xbox, reflecting the difference in install base between the two consoles.

How to Fish and Wardogs both outperformed Wolverine when factoring in PC as a platform. Wardogs approached 3 million sales, driven by strong word of mouth and viral social media clips of its combat sandbox. Only EA Sports FC 27 on PS5 outsold the Bulkhead and Team 17 shooter in September.

Many other titles had a much slower start in September. Ampere's data shows 305,000 sales on PS5 for Control: Resonant and 291,000 for Silent Hill: Townfall. The Blood of Dawnwalker, the debut RPG from former The Witcher developers at Rebel Wolves, fared much better, boasting 1.8 million sales across all platforms.