Marvel's Wolverine trailer becomes the latest target of Sony disc backlash

A new trailer for Marvel’s Wolverine, which confirmed Lady Deathstrike as part of the game’s cast, has become the newest focal point for player anger at Sony over physical media. Polygon reports the comment sections under PlayStation’s social posts filled with objections to the company’s plan to stop producing discs for new games, rather than with reaction to the game itself.

Sony announced at the start of the month that it will cease physical disc production for new releases beginning in 2028. The response was immediate enough that most of the company’s social accounts went quiet for close to a week, and Polygon reports the backlash resumed when they started posting again.

Why Insomniac is in the firing line

Insomniac Games is a PlayStation-owned studio, which makes its trailers a convenient target. Following Sony’s announcement, the developer confirmed that Marvel’s Wolverine will still get a physical release including a disc. That has not stopped the campaign: Polygon reports most comments on the trailer fall into three groups — demands for physical releases, criticism of Sony, and pledges not to buy the game.

Smaller studios caught in the crossfire

The protest has spread past first-party output to games PlayStation simply reposts. The account for the co-op game Hela: of Mice & Magic said it would pause its social media after a trailer was flooded with comments aimed at Sony. The team behind the action platformer Duskfade faced the same reaction to a PlayStation 5 pre-order post.

Demand where physical editions do exist is running ahead of supply. Publisher Playstack has said the limited physical editions of Mortal Shell 2 are close to sold out with no guarantee of a further run. Polygon notes that Grand Theft Auto 6 is due later this year without a physical disc, which suggests the argument has some distance left to run.