Digital game sales rise to $7.7bn in April - SuperData

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has already made around $34 million while in Early Access

News by James Brightman Contributor

Published on May 25, 2017

The latest report from SuperData shows that digital game sales increased 9% year-over-year to $7.7 billion in April. The firm noted that mobile continues to be a strong segment, showing 8% growth over last April, while the free-to-play segment jumped up 27%. That said, some of the growth segments were offset by declines in social, premium PC, console, and pay-to-play segments.

In particular, both Mass Effect: Andromeda and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands, saw "sharp declines in digital revenue in April, possibly due to mediocre reviews." SuperData said that EA dominated digital console rankings, and that FIFA 17 and Battlefield 1 were the top grossing console titles for the month. Ultimate Team helped push FIFA 17 digital revenue and Battlefield 1, although down slightly from March, still showed traction with its recent DLC.

On the PC side, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is enjoying yet more success, generating an estimated $34 million in April while Overwatch managed to reach new revenue highs for MAU and MTX (microtransactions). SuperData noted that this marks a high point for Overwatch as it nears its one-year anniversary; growth was largely attributable to the new Uprising update. Blizzard's other major digital title, Hearthstone, has also managed to recover in April following a February that was "one of its worst months ever in terms of digital revenue, on the back of its latest expansion Journey to Un'Goro.”

It's worth noting that GTA V saw a digital uptick in April as well, thanks to the new Tiny Racers update, an homage to old-school top-down racing titles. You can see in the console chart below that Rockstar's title came in third in digital rankings.

PC: