Marvel's Wolverine is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated games in development right now, looking to find the same level of quality and success that the Spider-Man titles have in recent times. Can it be done, though?

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Since Wolverine is being made by Insomniac Games specifically for the PlayStation 5 console, expectations are naturally high.

After all, Logan is the most iconic member of the X-Men out there, with the character never arguably done justice in video game form.

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While likely still a while away, there's plenty to discuss: expected release date, story details, every detail in the announcement trailer, as well as an unexpected leak (though we won't be diving into the contents here).

Or how about the possibility of Wolverine ever coming to PS4?

Taking this all into account, here's everything we know about Marvel's Wolverine, including Insomniac's comments on that infamous leak.

Wolverine PS5 game release date speculation

Marvel's Wolverine claws
Marvel's Wolverine. Insomniac Games

No official release date for Marvel's Wolverine has been announced by either Sony or Insomniac Games, at the time of writing.

Speculation points to a release date of 2025, or even potentially 2026, with development time now taking longer than before due to the upgraded hardware.

Insomniac Games also just launched Marvel's Spider-Man 2 in October 2023, so it's unlikely we'll get another full release from the studio for a while. Who knows, we might even get a Venom spin-off game in the meantime.

What happened with the Wolverine leaks?

Insomniac Games suffered a data breach in December 2023, with ransomware group Rhysida demanding around £2 million in bitcoin. When the studio decided to not comply, the hackers released details of the studio's future plans by uploading them to the web.

As first reported by CyberDaily, this included several games in the works, budgets and sensitive data relating to Insomniac's employees. Insomniac subsequently released the following statement:

"Thank you for the outpouring of compassion and unwavering support. It’s deeply appreciated. We’re both saddened and angered about the recent criminal cyberattack on our studio and the emotional toll it’s taken on our dev team. We have focused inwardly for the last several days to support each other.

"We are aware that the stolen data includes personal information belonging to our employees, former employees and independent contractors. It also includes early details about Marvel’s Wolverine for PS5. We continue working quickly to determine what data was impacted. This experience has been extremely distressing for us.

"We want everyone to enjoy the games we develop as intended. However, like Logan... Insomniac is resilient. Marvel’s Wolverine continues as planned. The game is in early production and will no doubt greatly evolve throughout development, as do all our plans.

"While we appreciate everyone’s enthusiasm, we will share official information about Marvel’s Wolverine when the time is right. On behalf of everyone here, thank you for your ongoing support during this challenging time."

Which consoles and platforms can play the Wolverine game?

The Wolverine game will launch exclusively on PlayStation 5. This is due to the game being developed by Insomniac Games, which is owned by Sony.

As a result, we wouldn't expect it to ever be ported to Xbox Series X/S or Nintendo Switch. Perhaps a PC release will happen at some point (much like the Marvel's Spider-Man and God of War PC releases), but that hasn't been confirmed, so don't hold your breath.

Will the Wolverine game come to PS4?

No, Marvel's Wolverine is not expected to come to PS4 at any point.

This is a next-gen project specifically built for the PS5, so the console will be the only place to play the Wolverine game at launch and for the foreseeable future.

Can I pre-order the Wolverine PS5 game?

No, pre-orders for the Wolverine PS5 game are not yet live.

As soon as retailers start to publish product pages, we'll be sure to update this article with all the details. The price hasn't been set in stone yet, either, so that'll be interesting to learn. This will all become clearer when we get closer to launch.

Wolverine game story speculation

The Wolverine PS5 game story remains a bit of a mystery - the reveal trailer seems to show a somewhat washed-up Wolverine getting into a bar-based brawl with some unlucky crooks, but it doesn't give much away beyond that.

Even from that clip, it seems like this is a grim and gritty tale involving a jaded Logan, who has already had his powers for quite a long time - he already has his metal claws, so it doesn't seem likely that this will be an origin story.

Perhaps, like Insomniac's Spider-Man games, Wolverine will kick off with our hero already fully established before setting him off against a big new threat.

Hugh Jackman in The Wolverine (2013) wearing a black suit, running with his claws out
Hugh Jackman in The Wolverine (2013). Ben Rothstein. 20th Century Fox

We wouldn't expect the Wolverine PS5 game to have any formal links to the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies or the pre-existing X-Men films from the Fox days, either.

Marvel Games seems to be doing its own thing, so the best you can hope for is probably a collection of skins/outfits/costumes that pay tribute to Wolvie's big-screen outings.

Hugh Jackman will almost certainly not appear, but you might be able to dress up like him.

Wolverine game PS5 gameplay

Although the post doesn't exactly go into detail about the Wolverine PS5 gameplay, the official PlayStation Blog describes the project like so: "Marvel’s Wolverine is a standalone game being directed by Brian Horton (creative director) and Cameron Christian (game director), who recently led the creative efforts on Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, a game we’re extremely proud of at Insomniac.

"In the vein of our Spider-Man games, our goal here is to not only respect the DNA of what makes the character so popular, but also look for opportunities to make it feel fresh and truly reflect the Insomniac spirit.

"Even though Marvel’s Wolverine is very early in development, from what I’ve seen of its emotional narrative and cutting-edge gameplay (see what I did there?), the team is already creating something truly special."

Jeff Grubb also sheds some light here. According to his sources, the game will take a lot of inspiration from God of War with a semi-open-world design.

Wolverine is also reported to receive a mature rating, and will be quite violent - in a similar vein to the film Logan. Grubb also claims that Hugh Jackman will not be reprising his role and the project will be standalone, bearing no resemblance to the Fox feature films.

Whether it's Spider-Man, Sunset Overdrive or Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Insomniac titles almost always have highly energetic and imaginative combat, so we're looking forward to seeing what the team over there comes up with for the Wolverine PS5 game.

Wolverine game PS5 trailer

Sony unveiled the first trailer for Marvel's Wolverine for PS5 in September 2021. It shows Logan in a seedy bar of some sort before unleashing his Adamantium claws. The trailer is accompanied by the song The Dark End of the Street by James Carr.

Check it out below:

We'll make sure to update this piece once more details regarding Marvel's Wolverine has been announced. In the meantime, stick to RadioTimes.com for all the latest news.

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Authors

Black-and-white photo of Matt Poskitt
Matt PoskittFreelance Writer

Matt Poskitt is a freelance journalist who specialises in arts and culture – be that movies, TV, video games, tech or otherwise. Matt headed up the games and entertainment section at T3 (Future Publishing), alongside being found across The Guardian, CNET, PC Gamer Mag, GamesIndustry.biz, Insider, iNews, IGN, TechRadar, PC Gamer Mag, NME and many more.

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