SuperData: Digital purchases in games generated more than $9 billion in May
The global turnover of digital purchases in the video game industry in May 2018 reached $9.1 billion. This is 25% more than the result of May last year, which amounted to $ 7.3 billion, according to the analytical company SuperData Research.
The mobile segment remained the driver of revenue growth from digital purchases in games — here gamers’ spending increased by 36% over the year. In addition, the hit Fortnite: Battle Royale from Epic Games made its contribution, thanks to which the revenues of free-play titles on consoles increased by $ 200 million compared to May 2017.
The highest-grossing titles by digital sales in May 2018, SuperData
SuperData shared a number of interesting observations that occurred on the global video game market in the previous month.
Fortnite set a new revenue record, earning $318 million on all platforms in May and becoming the highest-grossing game in May on consoles. Title revenues increased by 7% compared to the previous month. SuperData also reports that the growth of the title on PC and mobile has begun to slow down.
Analysts noted the revival of players’ interest in Pokémon GO — the popular AR title earned $104 million in May – 176% more than a year ago. The active audience also grew and reached peak values comparable to the record attendance of the game in 2016.
The adventure game Detroit: Become Human by Quantic Dream showed strong initial sales and managed to sell 291 thousand digital copies in less than a week.
The company called the online shooter Star Wars Battlefront II a commercial failure of the month, which, apparently, has not recovered from the scandal over the loot boxes. In April, Electronic Arts publishing returned microtransactions to the game for the purchase of cosmetic items, but subsequent content updates did not seem to interest the players.
Also on the topic:
- SuperData considers the drop in interest in AR temporary
- SuperData: sales of digital games in April increased by 23%
Source: SuperData
