SuperData September 2018 Digital Market Report Shows Strong Console Growth

The gaming intelligence firm SuperData, now owned by Nielsen, just released their worldwide digital games market report for the month of September 2018. Headline figures showed another month of remarkable growth, from $912 million last September to $1.24 billion in total digital gaming revenue this September.

As in previous months, the majority of that growth comes from the growth of mobile gaming and the continued shift from physical to digital game sales on consoles. The major event for the month was the release of the Forsaken expansion for Destiny 2 with over 60% of monthly active users purchasing the expansion. That catapulted Destiny 2 to the top of the console charts, beating out Marvel's Spider-Man (2.17 million digiital sales), and FIFA 19 which hit a franchise record for digital launch sales. NBA 2K19, another sports franchise, also hit a new record for digital launch sales.

Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) beat out Fortnite on PC, but the roles were reversed on consoles. Neither game made the top 10 on mobile, with NetEase's Knives Out being the battle royale of choice on that platform.

Globally, digital sales now make up ~43% of PlayStation 4 software sales. As that number continues to grow, SuperData's numbers, which do not include physical sales revenue, will become more and more accurate as a reflection of the total gaming industry.

Further Reading: Worldwide Digital Games Market: September 2018