By Sagar V. Mankar Sony has all the reasons to celebrate the phenomenal success of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, one of its biggest first-party tentpole games.
In its latest investor presentation, the company hailed the game as a “great success,” praising its impressive sales figures and critical acclaim.
The company announced that the game surpassed sales of 11 million units by April 20, 2024, setting new records for its first-party games.
Is Spider-Man 2 Sony’s Fastest-Selling Game?
The game’s sales performance has been nothing short of remarkable.
Sony previously announced that Spider-Man 2 was the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game over a 24-hour period.
This PlayStation 5 exclusive sold more than 2.5 million copies in just one day. That’s faster than you can say “My Spider-Sense is tingling!”
This impressive feat put Spider-Man 2 ahead of Sony Santa Monica’s God of War Ragnarok at the top of the PlayStation day-one launch sales chart.
Not stopping there, it went on to sell five million copies within just 11 days and reached the 10 million sales milestone on February 4, 2024, merely 107 days post-release.
To put these staggering numbers into perspective, the original Marvel’s Spider-Man, released on PlayStation 4 in 2018, sold 9 million copies after 80 days of sale and 13.2 million copies after 325 days.
With Spider-Man 2 already crossing the 11 million mark in a shorter timeframe, it’s clear that the sequel has surpassed its predecessor’s initial performance.
Has Spider-Man 2 Been Profitable for Sony?
According to the latest leaks, Spider-Man 2’s development costs ran $30 million over the original $270 million budget, totaling a whopping $300 million budget.
To break even, the game needed to sell 7.2 million units (as per Kotaku), a target it has now comfortably exceeded.
With the latest sales figures confirming its profitability, Sony can undoubtedly breathe a sigh of relief.
What other games contributed to Sony’s success?
In its investor presentation, Sony divided its portfolio into three categories:
- Tentpole games from established Studios and IPs
- Transformational” live-service games
- Experimental games
While Spider-Man 2 is undoubtedly a shining star in the tentpole category, Arrowhead Game Studios’ Helldivers 2 has been a standout in the transformational category.
Launched on PC and PS5, Sony revealed that it sold over 12 million units (combined) as of May 5, 2024.
How has the PlayStation 5 performed overall?
Sony’s presentation underscored the PlayStation 5’s remarkable performance, calling it the company’s highest-earning console generation to date, generating over $106 billion from fiscal years 2020 to 2023.
With steadily climbing sales, a growing monthly active user base on par with the PS4, and players spending a combined 2.4 billion hours gaming on the console, the PS5’s success is undeniable.
What’s Next for Sony’s First-Party Lineup?
While Spider-Man 2 and Helldivers 2 have contributed significantly to Sony’s success, with a combined 23+ million in sales, the future looks a bit sparse. Sony has announced that it won’t release any major existing PlayStation franchise games before April 2025. This means no big new sequels in series like God of War or Spider-Man in the immediate future.