80% of money spent on digital games goes to free-to-play titles

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Fortnite was, predictably, the biggest game of 2019, according to a new report. Market research firm SuperData says Epic’s battle royale game topped the list of digital games, generating a total of $1.8 billion over the course of the year.

SuperData’s report also says free-to-play games make up four out of every five dollars spent on digital gaming – and 74% of that amount comes from mobile. Turning to premium games, FIFA 19 was the biggest earner, with FIFA 20 also included at No. 4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Grand Theft Auto V continue to generate revenue, too, at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.

The games industry is worth a total of $120 billion, SuperData says, with PC games representing the second-biggest segment with $29.6 billion of revenue. After mobile games’ leading $64.4 billion market share and PC’s portion, console games make up a further $15.4 billion, with XR (augmented and virtual reality) and gaming video content (Twitch, YouTube, Mixer, and other gaming video providers) attracting around $6.5 billion each in 2019.

Overall, however, the premium games market dropped 5% year-on-year due to “a gap year in AAA game launches”. 2019 featured fewer “mega-hits” than 2018, SuperData says, after that year brought us Spider-Man PS4, Monster Hunter: World, and Red Dead Redemption 2 (on console).

Conversely, the company predicts premium games will “have their biggest year ever” in 2020 thanks to “highly anticipated games like Cyberpunk 2077, The Last of Us: Part II and Animal Crossing: New Horizons” before the launch of the PS5 and the Xbox Series X.