What you need to know
- Deadpool and Wolverine fever has, not surprisingly, pushed up used prices for the old Deadpool game on all platforms.
- Previously available on Xbox 360 and Xbox One, the BBC is reporting one copy sold for an absurd £300 😲.
- The Activision made game would technically be under Microsoft control now, but the license to sell it on the digital store has long since expired.
Last week, swept up in my own case of Deadpool and Wolverine fever, I wrote a piece about how there’s an old Deadpool game for Xbox you might not have known about. At the time, used prices were fairly high, but since then, things have taken a turn.
A very bad turn.
The BBC reports that the prices have skyrocketed since the movie hit the big screen, with one sealed copy going for an eye watering £300 on eBay. No, that’s not a typo.
“Fans wanting to get their hands on the 2015 game Deadpool have paid as much as £116 on eBay – with an unopened copy in top condition selling for £330 last week.
It is no longer available for digital download, meaning gamers must seek out physical copies if they want to play it.”
Admittedly, that seems to relate to a PS4 copy of Deadpool, but it’s still absolute craziness. To collectors, dropping this much money on a game might not seem like a big deal, but as the hype dies off, you can almost guarantee that prices will come back down again.
That someone might well have a shiny sealed copy of Deadpool, but it’s unlikely that it’s going to keep going up in value from there. And here I am with a box, and a missing disc. I was already sad, this has pushed me over the edge.
Microsoft now owns the maker of the Deadpool game, but you can’t buy it anymore on the Store
Deadpool was made by Activision, and wasn’t the subject of a movie tie in. The game preceded the first Deadpool from Fox by three years, perhaps partly why it went a little under the radar. Let’s face it, comic book fans are mighty, but Ryan Reynolds thrust the character into the mainstream.
The problem we face is that the game is no longer available to buy on any digital store. Even though Microsoft now owns Activision. The license has long since expired, and the only way to get it is to take a punt on a used copy. But I don’t recommend eBay. If you happen to see a copy on sale somewhere that isn’t ridiculously priced, needless to say, snap it up instantly.
Obviously, I know nothing of licenses, the money it costs to get them, and so forth. But as we saw with the Fallout TV show, these things inevitably link to people wanting to play related games. I can’t be the only one who thinks Microsoft has, once again, missed a trick. Deadpool and Wolverine is the hottest movie of 2024, everyone knew it would be, so would it have been so bad to go back to Marvel and say “hey, can we get a short new license to put this game back out for sale?”
There are processes and legalities to navigate, but come on. Game preservation’s number one enemy is the almighty license. But this seems like a no-brainer.
