Microtransactions are the Main Course in the Gaming Industry
The latest SuperData report has brought some interesting information. It turns out that almost 90% of revenues of the digital gaming market are generated by microtransactions.
The SuperData analytics group has published a report summarizing the results of the global digital gaming market for the period from black Friday to digital Monday, i.e. from November 27 to 30, 2020. Revenues amounted to 3.9 billion dollars, a 10% decrease compared to last year.
However, the most interesting part of the analysis is not the results for these few days. The report states that during the first ten months of this year as much as 89% of all digital revenues came from microtransactions. This segment generated 92.6 billion dollars in this period, out of which 21.7 billion came from the United States. In turn, the sale of full versions of games brought only 11.6 billion dollars worldwide (of which 4.9 billion in the USA).
Revenues from the digital games market for the first 10 months of 2020
Region | Revenue from microtransactions | Revenue from sales of full versions of games |
World | USD 92.6 billion (12% increase) | USD 11.6 billion (21% increase) |
USA | USD 21.7 billion (34% increase) | $4.9 billion (25% increase) |
This data clearly shows what the video game market looks like today. The industry leaders are increasingly focusing on keeping players on the games for a long time, as this is where the most money is earned. However, lovers of more traditional sames shouldn't despair just yet, as digital revenues from full games increased by 21% in the first ten months of 2020.
In the period from November 27 to 30, 2020, the segment of PC games grew by 6% compared to the same holiday weekend in 2019, but the console segment suffered a 13% decrease. According to analysts, the reason for the worse results of the latter category was, among others, low availability of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. In addition, subscription services such as Game Pass, whose revenues in October this year were 216% higher than in the same month of 2019, play an increasingly important role in the market. Subscriptions of this type give players access to a large game library, so the users are less motivated to look for price reductions on the occasion of Black Friday.
The analysts point out that players were keen to take advantage of the microtransaction deals, organised in many free-to-play games on the occasion of Black Friday.
