While December 2016 was “retail’s worst December in two decades” in the United States, tracking firm SuperData says the digital console market in the US rose 16% year-over-year. Additionally, for the final quarter of 2016, console digital revenue reached $1 billion, which they say was “underpinned by a 21% jump in total full game download units as purchasing habits continue to trend towards digital distribution.”
Overall, December 2016 was the best month ever for the worldwide digital market, which grew 10% year-over-year to reach $7.6 billion.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare was the #1 digital console game of December 2016, but combined digital sales on console and PC were 23% less than what Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 achieved in December 2015, and only 6% more than Advanced Warfare in December 2014. “The year-over-year decline in units was offset by a significant increase in average selling price as a result of deluxe units,” SuperData added.
As for Grand Theft Auto V, Additional Content spending in Grand Theft Auto Online was up 36% from November 2016, and monthly active users in December were the highest they’d been in all of 2016.
Here’s the top ten grossing console games by worldwide digital revenue for December 2016, according to SuperData:
- Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
- Battlefield 1
- FIFA 17
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Final Fantasy XV
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
- NBA 2K17
- Star Wars Battlefront
- Madden NFL 17
- Watch Dogs 2
You can see SuperData’s 2016 report over here.
[Source: SuperData]
