Nine-year-old Deadpool game sells for £300 after film hype

A nine-year-old PlayStation 4 video game has skyrocketed in price following the release of the long-anticipated film Deadpool & Wolverine last week.

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.

The renewed love for the game seems to be a direct result of the popularity of the new film, which made over $444m (£345m) on its opening weekend.

Deadpool & Wolverine, which stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman as the titular characters, has had the sixth-biggest box office opening ever.

The game first launched in 2013 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but it is the 2015 re-release that is becoming difficult to find without paying high prices.

The game was not well-received by critics, though it was not panned either - with review aggregator Metacritic giving it an average score of 60 out of 100.

According to PriceCharting, which tracks media sales online, the PS4 game - which originally retailed for £49.99 - could have been picked up for just £9 in May 2018 when the second Deadpool movie came out.

But the hype over the third instalment of the franchise, and the popularity of its stars Reynolds and Jackman, has seen the price of the game steadily inflate since filming began in May 2023.

And its July 2024 release has seen the game's price shoot up even further to a record high.

Deadpool & Wolverine has had the sixth-biggest opening weekend ever in the US, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

It made $211m at the domestic box office, and opened with $233m internationally.

On Instagram, Reynolds thanked fans for going out to see the film, calling the success "kind of hard to process".

The film is jam-packed with Marvel cameos, and also features an unlikely appearance from Wrexham AFC striker Paul Mullin.

Reynolds and fellow Hollywood actor Rob McElhenney bought the Welsh football club in 2020 and have seen the team promoted to League One.

The takeover and subsequent success was documented in the TV series Welcome to Wrexham.