Money Monday Sept. 22nd

Money Monday – September 22, 2026

Late Monday but still Monday. Wolverine launched to big numbers and an even bigger dumpster fire. Control Resonant drops Wednesday. Dune: Awakening hit Game Pass today. Capcom went off at TGS. Let's go.

💥 Fail of the Week: Marvel's Wolverine — A $70 Trainwreck

Where do I even start with this one. Marvel's Wolverine launched September 15 at $69.99, PS5 exclusive, and it has been nothing but controversy, disappointment, and damage control ever since.

The Numbers

1.9 million copies in three days. $130 million in revenue. Top-performing new PlayStation Studios game on PS5 this year — ahead of Marathon, Saros, MLB The Show, and Marvel Tokon (per Alinea Analytics). Sounds great on paper, right? Except Spider-Man 2 did $250 million in the same window — almost double. And only 22.9% of Wolverine's sales were physical, which gives Sony even more ammo to kill the disc. Great.

Metacritic: 77 — the lowest-scored PS5 first-party game Sony has ever shipped. User score: 6.4 and sinking. IGN and GameSpot both hit it with 6/10s and called it "barebones." This ain't Spider-Man numbers. This ain't even close.

The "Yearning" Disaster

This is the one that set the internet on fire. In The Washington Post's review, narrative director Walt Williams described Wolverine and Sabretooth's relationship using the word "yearning." Direct quote: "Logan feels that yearning and he gets scared and pulls away. Sabretooth feels that yearning and it makes him hurt and want to lash out to exert that hurt outward. Hate and love are so hand in hand."

The internet did exactly what you'd expect. Players read that and said Insomniac turned Wolverine and Sabretooth into a love story. The backlash was immediate and brutal. One commenter on Instagram nailed the mood: "I don't care about the game. I just enjoy the people pretending this isn't the gayest sentence uttered in history."

Insomniac's community director James Stevenson scrambled to X to do damage control (per FandomWire, TheGamer, and Vice). He said the relationship is "more like brothers on Team X" and called it a "best friend" thing. Told people to just play the game and they'd understand. His exact words: "Lots of lonely people wish they had a best friend to fight by their side. I dunno what to tell you besides play the game and you'll understand."

Look — maybe Williams just picked a terrible word. Maybe the actual game handles it fine. But when your narrative director describes two male characters' relationship as "yearning" and "love and hate hand in hand" in a major publication, you don't get to act surprised when people call it what it sounds like. That's not a misinterpretation — that's bad messaging from a professional writer who should know better.

Sweet Baby Inc. Is in the Credits

Because of course they are. Sweet Baby Inc. is credited on Marvel's Wolverine. The narrative consulting firm that's become the poster child for everything gamers hate about modern Western game development has their fingerprints on this one. Content creator Smash JT pointed out that of the SBI names listed in the credits, only three still appear to work there — the company has reportedly shrunk dramatically. That suggests most of their Wolverine work happened a while ago. But the credit is there, and given everything else going on with this game's narrative choices, it's not a great look.

The "Fart Gas" Scent Trails

Wolverine has a scent tracking mechanic — because he's Wolverine, he can smell things, fine. The problem? The visual effect looks like Logan is following a trail of green fart gas. Washington Post reviewer Gene Park literally called it "fart gas" and the name stuck. Players roasted it. Memes everywhere. It became the visual symbol of everything wrong with the game's handholding problem.

Insomniac already patched it — per IGN, a hotfix reduced the opacity of the scent trails and audio sense indicators to make them "less intense." They're also looking into adding a full toggle to turn it off completely. The fact that they shipped it like that in the first place tells you nobody in the room said "hey, this looks like ass."

Fake Hugh Jackman Quote Goes Viral

A fabricated quote claiming Hugh Jackman was "embarrassed" by the game went viral across social media. People ran with it like it was gospel. X had to slap a Community Note on it pointing out the source was a parody and satire account (per Yahoo Entertainment). Jackman never said a damn word about the game. But the fact that so many people believed it tells you where the public sentiment is.

AI Art Accusations

Players spotted bizarre in-game bathroom signs with melted-together figures that looked like AI-generated garbage. It went viral. Insomniac's Stevenson had to come out again and flatly state: "There are no AI-generated assets in Marvel's Wolverine" (per IGN). Whether you believe that or not is up to you, but when your game's art is so janky that people can't tell if it's human-made or AI slop, that's a problem.

The Bottom Line

Wolverine sold almost 2 million copies and is still a disaster. The "yearning" quote, Sweet Baby Inc. in the credits, fart gas trails, fake celebrity dunks, AI art accusations, a 6.4 user score — this game has been a lightning rod for everything wrong with AAA gaming right now. Insomniac says they're "cooking hard" on fixes. They better be, because at $70 on one platform, this ain't it. Fail of the week and it ain't close.

🔥 Control Resonant — Wednesday, September 24

Remedy's back. Control Resonant launches Wednesday on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Mac. $59.99 Standard, $69.99 Digital Deluxe. PS5 Digital Deluxe early access started today. Physical copies delayed to October 15.

Reviews are mostly positive:

• Vice — "A mind-bending action masterpiece."

• The Outer Haven — "Bigger, stranger, better sequel."

• Gaming Trend — "Remedy cooks."

• CGMagazine — 7.5. Said the combat wears thin.

Still no confirmation on Game Pass day one. If it hits, massive W. Either way, Remedy earns your money.

🎮 Game Pass Wave 2 — Dune Is Here

Per Xbox Wire:

• Dune: Awakening — TODAY. Open-world survival on Arrakis.

• Well Dweller — Today. Dark fairy tale Metroidvania.

• Mad King Redemption — Sept 23.

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 — Sept 25.

• Ninja Gaiden 4 — Premium.

• Minecraft Dungeons II — Sept 29. Day one.

Dune day one on Game Pass is the headliner. BO6 Thursday. Minecraft Dungeons II closes the month.

🌍 TGS 2026: Capcom Dropped Bombs

• Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance — Teostra confirmed. 2027.

• Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen — October 9. $49.99. New frozen region, 12 dungeons, Switch 2.

• Mega Man: Dual Override — Spring 2027. Proto Man playable.

• Street Fighter 6 — Arjun Oct 13. Tifa Lockhart and Bosch teased.

🛒 Deals — Last Calls

• PlayStation TGS Sale — Ends TOMORROW. Up to 85% off. Last chance.

• 505 Games 20th Anniversary — Steam. Death Stranding 75% off, Control, Terraria.

📅 What's Next

• Control Resonant — Sept 24.

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 — Sept 25 on Game Pass.

• Minecraft Dungeons II — Sept 29. Game Pass day one.

• The Witcher 3: Remastered — Sept 29.

• Gears of War: E-Day — Oct 6. Game Pass day one.

• Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen — Oct 9.

That's your Monday. Wolverine is a $130 million mess — "yearning," fart gas, Sweet Baby Inc., and a 6.4 user score. Control Resonant drops Wednesday and Remedy looks like they cooked. Dune: Awakening is on Game Pass right now. Capcom bodied TGS. Witcher 3 Remastered and Gears E-Day are right around the corner. See you next Monday.