Insomniac Games Communications Director James Stevenson called the wave of ridicule directed at Marvel’s Wolverine a “relentless barrage” that’s not good for mental health and doesn’t reflect the reality of the situation. The reason is three viral videos mocking the gameplay, including comparisons to the PS2 game Ben 10: Protector of Earth. The hate stems not so much from the game’s problems as from fatigue with Sony’s formulaic action games and anger over the abandonment of physical media. Meanwhile, Wolverine remains the third-most pre-ordered game in the US, behind GTA 6 and NBA 2K27.
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What exactly did James Stevenson say? – full quote
James Stevenson is the Director of Community and Marketing at Insomniac Games, the studio developing Marvel’s Wolverine exclusively for PlayStation 5. The release is scheduled for September 15, 2026. In response to a wave of ridicule on the social network X (formerly Twitter), Stevenson wrote:
“The wild way this algorithm amplifies and forces negativity upon you has me reconsidering my philosophy on telling devs to look or post here. It’s a relentless onslaught that I cannot believe is good for anyone’s mental health or representative.”
Translation into Russian:
“The wild way this algorithm amplifies and forces negativity upon you has me reconsidering my philosophy on whether to advise developers to read or post here. It’s a relentless barrage that I cannot believe is beneficial for anyone’s mental health and certainly does not reflect reality.”
Stevenson stated that he was reconsidering his position: he previously recommended that developers read comments on social media to stay connected with their audience. Now he doubts whether this is worth doing. According to him, X’s algorithms are designed to aggressively promote negative content, turning isolated criticisms into an avalanche. Stevenson also responded to other discussions: he clarified that Team X in the game is not the X-Men, but an entirely different group, and Wolverine’s suit has a lore explanation that will be revealed later in the story.
Three Videos That Sparked the Hate – A Breakdown of Each
The wave of ridicule started not with one post, but with three viral videos, each mocking the game in its own way. Here’s what the videos showed.
Video 1: Comparison with Sentinel and Ben 10
The most popular video is a comparison of the Sentinel boss fight from Marvel’s Wolverine and a similar scene from Ben 10: Protector of Earth, released on PS2 in 2007.
The video garnered over 50,000 likes in the Spanish-language X community, and another 70,000 after being translated into English. The idea behind the comparison is simple: a battle with a large enemy in the new game visually resembles a scene from a nearly twenty-year-old game. The hint is that the gameplay hasn’t advanced much.
Meanwhile, battles with giant enemies, where the character attacks limbs or body parts, are common in many games, from God of War II to modern action games. This similarity in itself doesn’t indicate plagiarism or backwardness, but in a short video format, this nuance is lost.
Video 2: 15 Seconds of Running
The second video is simply a 15-second clip of gameplay, showing Logan running forward down a corridor. The video is captioned, “Wolverine gameplay feels like this.” The video has received around 20,000 likes.
The joke is based on the character’s movement looking “trivial.” However, running forward is a basic mechanic in almost any game, which says absolutely nothing about the overall quality of the gameplay. Nevertheless, as a short viral video ploy, it worked.
Video 3: Controller Overlay with R2 Press
The third video shows an overlay of the DualSense controller over the gameplay, where the player seemingly mindlessly presses the R2 button. The video has received 42,000 likes.
The joke is that the gameplay is reduced to a single action—repetitive pressing. Every action game, including Sony’s hits (God of War, Spider-Man), has moments where the player repeatedly presses the same button. But in a video taken out of context, this comes across as a flaw.
Why Wolverine is being hated – three underlying reasons
Experts and analysts attribute the wave of hate not so much to the quality of the game itself, but to three factors that are not directly related to Wolverine’s gameplay.
Reason 1: Fatigue with Sony’s formulaic action games
In recent years, Sony has been releasing large-scale cinematic action games with a similar structure: a story-driven campaign with cutscenes, open worlds or semi-open locations, a leveling system, and stealth elements. God of War: Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, Spider-Man 2 – all follow a recognizable formula.
Social media users are increasingly expressing fatigue with this approach. Wolverine has become yet another game that has become the focus of pent-up frustration—not so much for its specific shortcomings, but for being part of the same genre.
Reason 2: Anger over the abandonment of physical discs
Sony is gradually abandoning physical media. The PlayStation 5 Digital Edition, the rise of digital sales, and the decline in physical copies—all of this is irritating to a segment of the audience who value the ability to buy a disc, resell a game, or own a physical copy of a collector’s edition.
Wolverine, as a major exclusive, has become a scapegoat—users use it to express dissatisfaction with the company’s overall policies. The game itself has become the pretext, not the cause.
Reason 3: Algorithmic Amplification of Negativity
In his quote, Stevenson directly pointed to the problem with X’s algorithms. Social media is designed in such a way that negative content attracts more attention and engagement—likes, reposts, comments. Algorithms pick up on such posts and begin to show them more widely, creating a snowball effect. The three viral videos weren’t a coordinated campaign. They emerged independently, but each algorithm picked up and amplified them, turning individual jokes into a massive hate wave. What could have remained a local meme became global news.
Does Hate Affect Sales? Pre-Order Data
Despite the barrage of ridicule, Wolverine’s commercial performance remains strong. As of August 2026, Marvel’s Wolverine ranks third in pre-orders in the US, behind only GTA 6 and the two versions of NBA 2K27.
In June 2026, the game was in second place—a slight decline, but still among the top three most anticipated releases. This suggests that social media hate and genuine audience interest are two different things.
Stevenson himself noted in one comment that he personally doesn’t expect Wolverine to be a contender for Game of the Year in the busy 2026. This doesn’t mean the game is bad; rather, the competition is exceptionally fierce this year.
The main conclusion: the wave of negativity isn’t affecting pre-orders. Players who are genuinely interested in a project aren’t discouraged from purchasing it because of viral jokes.
Should you trust the hate? What players ultimately need to know
If you’re planning to buy Marvel’s Wolverine and see a wave of ridicule on social media, here’s what’s important to understand.
First, the game’s previews are mostly positive. Major publications that have seen the game in action praise the high-quality visuals, the sophisticated combat system, and the attention to detail. None of them called it a “failure” or a “disaster.”
Second, the comparison to Ben 10: Protector of Earth is a specific fragment, taken out of context. Any game can be ridiculed if you take a short segment and show it without explanation. Even hits like God of War or The Last of Us can be turned into memes if you so desire.
Third, Stevenson himself calls the hate “unrepresentative.” He’s not saying the game is flawless, but he insists the scale of the negativity is misleading.
Practical advice: if in doubt, wait for full reviews after the September 15th release. Social media hate is a poor guide. It reflects the mood of an audience tired of Sony’s formulaic games and irritated by the company’s policies, not the actual quality of Wolverine. The final decision should be based on what you see with your own eyes.
