Marvel’s Wolverine runs at 60 frames per second with ray tracing on the standard PlayStation 5, and you don’t have to dig through menus to get it. Insomniac Games has this behavior baked into the game’s default mode, which marks the first time the studio has hit that target on the base console rather than only on the more powerful PS5 Pro.
Quick answer: On a base PS5, launch Marvel’s Wolverine and play in its default mode. You get 60 FPS with ray tracing turned on without switching to a separate Performance mode.
What the default mode gives you on base PS5
Most PlayStation games ask you to pick between a Performance mode for higher frame rates and a Fidelity mode for sharper visuals. Marvel’s Wolverine folds both goals into how it runs out of the box. The game targets 60 FPS while keeping ray tracing active, so you are not trading smoothness for lighting or reflections.
Insomniac framed this as a goal set early in development. “From early on in development, we knew we wanted to make this 60 FPS, working on the base PS5 in performance mode,” the studio said, adding that the team accomplished it and that “the game feels super smooth.” Because the ray-traced, high-frame-rate experience is the standard presentation, you don’t need to hunt for a toggle to switch it on.
Why 60 FPS with ray tracing is a first for Insomniac
Insomniac’s earlier PS5 titles, including Marvel’s Spider-Man, Miles Morales, Spider-Man 2, and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, offered separate performance and fidelity options. Hitting a steady 60 FPS with ray tracing on the base hardware, all in the default presentation, is something the studio had not pulled off before.
A big part of that comes down to design. Marvel’s Wolverine is a more linear, focused game rather than a sprawling open world. Smaller, tighter levels put less strain on the console than a large open map, which leaves more headroom for ray-traced effects without dragging the frame rate down.
Base PS5 vs. PS5 Pro performance
The standard console handles the 60 FPS, ray-traced target, while the PS5 Pro pushes the same experience to a higher resolution. On the Pro, the game runs in 4K at 60 FPS with ray tracing, using Insomniac’s updated engine alongside PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution 2.0 to keep the image clean at speed.
| Console | Frame rate | Ray tracing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base PS5 | 60 FPS | On | Enabled in the default mode |
| PS5 Pro | 60 FPS at 4K | On | Uses PSSR 2.0 upscaling in a Performance Pro mode |
On the Pro, the engine renders at a lower base resolution and then reconstructs the image up to 4K with PSSR 2.0, which analyzes the current frame and motion from previous frames to reduce noise and ghosting. Freeing up those rendering resources lets the hardware spend more on ray-traced reflections, soft shadows, and global illumination while holding 60 FPS.
How the visuals hold up in motion
The extra performance headroom shows up in combat. Logan’s regenerating body reacts to damage, with chunks of flesh shredding away as he takes hits and healing back afterward. The game leans into the gore rather than softening it, which fits the mature tone Insomniac has described for the project.
Ray tracing handles physically accurate reflections on surfaces and puddles, keeping geometry correct regardless of where the camera sits, which older screen-space reflection methods struggle with. The engine also runs a dynamic weather and foliage system along with real-time global illumination.
What else to know before launch
Marvel’s Wolverine is a PS5 exclusive developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, with a 2026 release window. There is also a limited edition PS5 console with adamantium-themed controllers for players buying hardware specifically for the game.
Note: The game’s ESRB rating has raised the possibility that Marvel’s Wolverine includes microtransactions, which has drawn concern from parts of the community. That detail is not confirmed by Insomniac, so treat it as unsettled until the studio addresses it directly.
For now, the headline for base PS5 owners is straightforward. You get 60 FPS and ray tracing together, in the game’s standard mode, without giving up one for the other.
