Sony has revealed that its latest Spider-Man title is the PlayStation’s fastest-selling video game.
According to a blog post, Spider-Man 2 sold more than 2.5 million physical and digital copies in its first 24 hours.
Since its release on Friday for the PS5, the game, created by PlayStation-owned Insomniac Games, has received glowing reviews.
However, it has received considerable criticism for its length, with the main story requiring approximately 15 hours to complete.
This translates to around 40 hours when side content is included, which is a very standard duration for video games, but certain titles this year, such as Baldur’s Gate 3, can potentially be played for hundreds of hours.
The representation of Puerto Rican culture in Spider-Man 2 has been appreciated, however there has been controversy after its flag was confused with that of Cuba in the main character’s residence.
The developers have promised to correct the error.
Despite the title, Spider-Man 2 is the third game in the series, with releases in 2018 and 2020.
The current game, like the previous ones, takes place in a virtual New York City, but for the first time, players can play as either Peter Parker or Miles Morales, the popular superhero’s alter-egos.
“Insomniac Games holds itself to incredibly high standards when it comes to delivering engaging and innovative gameplay experiences,” said Eric Lempel, head of business operations at PlayStation.
“I want to say thank you to the fans – we truly hope you are enjoying your time playing as Peter and Miles in this amazing adventure.”
Major sporting events
Last week saw the release of a slew of high-profile games, including new releases from gaming legends Mario and Sonic.
The debut of Super Mario Bros Wonder and Sonic Superstars in the same week for the first time in more than 30 years grabbed attention.
Spider-Man 2 outsold both in boxed sales to become the biggest physical video-game release in the UK last week. On gaming aggregator Metacritic, it is now one of the highest-rated PlayStation 5 titles.
Despite being the year’s biggest physical release on PS5, the game has yet to hit the dizzying heights of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which sold more than 10 million copies in only three days.
That game, launched by Nintendo in May, is still the biggest physical video game launch in the United Kingdom in 2023.
The physical sales of Spider-Man 2 account for a small portion of the overall 2.5 million copies sold, according to Christopher Dring, the president of gaming news site GamesIndustry.biz.
“The majority of games sold these days are digitally downloaded,” he went on to say.
“Before the pandemic, the market was trending in this direction: in 2019, around half of games in the UK were sold digitally, while the other half were sold in physical stores; however, since 2020, that number has risen to over 70% of games being downloaded.”
“Every year, millions of boxed games are sold, and you can’t download a console or a controller.” However, it is now a much, much, much smaller segment of the market.”
