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2020

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The global market for video games based on 2020 revenues was estimated to exceed $179.7 billion according to the International Data Corporation; the growth of 20% over 2019 revenues is attributes to the surge in spending in video games from the COVID-19 pandemic along with the releases of the new consoles.[1]

Financial performance[]

SuperData Research estimated the global video game market grew by 12% in 2020 to a total $139.9 billion in revenues. Mobile games accounted for over $73.8 billion or 58% of the market, with computer games at $33.1 billion and console games at $19.7 billion. Virtual and augmented reality had about $6.7 billion, while video gaming content such as online streamers generated an additional $9.3 billion.[2][3] Newzoo estimated the global market for video games in 2020 was $177.8 billion, a 23.1% increase from 2019, buoyed by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, Newzoo anticipated that the 2021 market will see a small decline as the world recovers from COVID-19 and spending on video games slows down, but otherwise the industry would remain on track to break $200 billion in revenue by 2023.[4]

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, while the overall global entertainment and media market dropped by 3.8% during 2020, the video game market grew by 10% over the year, due to the use of video games to help with social distancing during COVID-19 lockdowns.[5]

Largest markets[]

According to market research firm Newzoo, the following countries were the largest video game markets in 2020.[6]

Rank Country Revenue
1 China $45,642,000,000
2 United States $39,065,000,000
3 Japan $20,763,000,000
4 South Korea $7,530,000,000
5 Germany $5,702,000,000
6 United Kingdom $5,117,000,000
7 France $4,024,000,000
8 Canada $3,551,000,000
9 Italy $3,205,000,000
10 Brazil $2,288,000,000

Highest-grossing games[]

The following are the top ten highest-grossing video games of 2020. Each of the top ten titles grossed more than $1 billion, while the top four grossed more than $2 billion each.[2][7] The majority of the top ten titles are published by Asian companies, including three from Chinese conglomerate Tencent which holds the top two spots.[2]

Rank Game Revenue Publisher Genre(s) Business Ref
1 PUBG $2,824,000,000 Bluehole Battle royale F2P / B2P [n 1]
2 Honor of Kings $2,564,000,000 Tencent MOBA F2P [n 2]
3 Roblox $2,290,000,000 Roblox GCS / MMO F2P [2]
4 Garena Free Fire $2,130,000,000 Garena Battle royale
5 Animal Crossing: New Horizons $2,000,000,000 Nintendo Social sim B2P [11]
6 Pokémon Go $1,920,000,000 Nintendo AR F2P [2]
7 COD: Modern Warfare / Warzone $1,913,000,000 Activision FPS / BR B2P / F2P
8 League of Legends $1,750,000,000 Tencent MOBA F2P
9 Candy Crush Saga $1,660,000,000 King Puzzle
10 AFK Arena $1,450,000,000 Lilith Games RPG

Free-to-play games[]

The following titles were the top ten highest-grossing free-to-play games in 2020. Three of the top ten free-to-play titles are published by Tencent, which holds the top two spots.[2]

Rank Game Revenue Publisher(s) Genre(s) Ref
1 PUBG Mobile / Game for Peace $2,700,000,000 Tencent / Bluehole Battle royale [8]
2 Honor of Kings / Arena of Valor $2,564,000,000 Tencent MOBA [n 2]
3 Roblox $2,290,000,000 Roblox Corporation GCS / MMO [2]
4 Garena Free Fire $2,130,000,000 Garena Battle royale
5 Pokémon Go $1,920,000,000 Nintendo Augmented reality
6 League of Legends $1,750,000,000 Tencent MOBA
7 Candy Crush Saga $1,660,000,000 King Puzzle
8 AFK Arena $1,450,000,000 Lilith Games RPG
9 Gardenscapes: New Acres $1,430,000,000 Playrix Puzzle
10 Dungeon Fighter Online (DFO) $1,410,000,000 Nexon / Tencent Beat 'em up / ARPG

Fortnite grossed more than $1 billion in 2020, but less than $1.41 billion. It fell out of the top ten, dropping from its top spot in 2019.[2]

Best-selling premium games[]

The following titles were the best-selling premium games (including buy-to-play titles) in 2020. Three of the top ten best-selling titles are published by Nintendo, including the year's top-selling game.

No. Game Units sold Revenue Genre(s) Publisher
1 Animal Crossing: New Horizons 31,800,000[12] $2,000,000,000[11] Social sim Nintendo
2 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare < 25,250,000[n 3] < $1,913,000,000[n 4] FPS / BR Activision
3 FIFA 20 Unknown $1,083,000,000[2] Sports Electronic Arts
4 Grand Theft Auto V / Online 20,000,000[15] $911,000,000[2] Action ADV Take-Two
5 Cyberpunk 2077 13,000,000[16] $609,000,000[2] Action RPG CD Projekt
6 Among Us 12,700,000[n 5] Unknown Party Innersloth
7 Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout 11,000,000[20] Unknown BR / Platform Devolver
8 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 10,450,000[12][21] Unknown Kart racing Nintendo
9 Super Mario 3D All-Stars 8,320,000[12] Unknown Platformer
10 NBA 2K21 8,000,000[22] $889,000,000[2] Sports Take-Two

Markets[]

The following were 2020's top ten best-selling video games by region (excluding microtransactions and free-to-play titles) on PC and console platforms, for Australia,[23] Japan,[24] Europe,[25] and the United States.[26]

Rank Australia[23] Japan[n 6][24] Europe[25][27] United States[n 7][26]
1 Animal Crossing: New Horizons Animal Crossing: New Horizons FIFA 21 Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
2 Grand Theft Auto V Ring Fit Adventure Grand Theft Auto V Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
3 Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa Mo Teiban! Animal Crossing: New Horizons[n 8] Animal Crossing: New Horizons[n 8]
4 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Final Fantasy VII Remake FIFA 20 Madden NFL 21
5 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Pokémon Sword / Shield Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Assassin's Creed Valhalla
6 FIFA 21 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[n 8] The Last of Us Part II
7 Assassin's Creed Valhalla Super Smash Bros. Ultimate The Last of Us Part II Ghost of Tsushima
8 The Last of Us Part II Minecraft: Switch Edition Assassin's Creed Valhalla Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[n 8]
9 NBA 2K20 Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Super Mario 3D All-Stars[n 8]
10 NBA 2K21 Super Mario 3D All-Stars Red Dead Redemption 2 Final Fantasy VII Remake

United States[]

Best Selling Games 2020

Notes[]

  1. ↑ PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG)
    • PUBG Mobile (Game for Peace / Peacekeeper Elite) – $2.7 billion (free-to-play)[8]
    • PC (buy-to-play) – $124 million (February & May)[9]
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Honor of Kings / Arena of Valor
    • January to December 14 – $2.5 billion[7]
    • December 25–31 (China) – $64 million[10]
  3. ↑ 30 million units sold between October 2019 and September 2020,[13] 4.75 million digital units sold during October–November 2019.[14]
  4. ↑ Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and free-to-play battle royale game Call of Duty: Warzone grossed a combined $1.913 billion in 2020.[2]
  5. ↑ Among Us sales:
  6. ↑ Best-selling games by physical unit sales
  7. ↑ Highest-grossing games by sales revenue
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Not including digital sales

References[]

  1. ↑ Witkowski, Wallace (December 26, 2020). "Videogames are a bigger industry than movies and North American sports combined, thanks to the pandemic". Market Watch. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 "Games and interactive media earnings rose 12% to $139.9B in 2020" (PDF). SuperData Research. Nielsen Company. 6 January 2021. Archived from the original on 6 January 2021. Alt URL Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "SuperData2020" defined multiple times with different content
  3. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (January 6, 2020). "SuperData: Games grew 12% to $139.9 billion in 2020 amid pandemic". Venture Beat. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  4. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (May 6, 2021). "Newzoo: Global game market will shrink in 2021 for first time in many years". Venture Beat. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  5. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (July 11, 2021). "PwC: Games grew 10% in 2020 and will grow 4.4% per year through 2025". Venture Beat. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Top Countries & Markets by Game Revenues". Newzoo. Archived from the original on 2021-12-16. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapple, Craig (15 December 2020). "PUBG Mobile Tops List of Billion-Dollar Mobile Games in 2020". Sensor Tower. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chapple, Craig (25 March 2021). "PUBG Mobile Grosses $5 Billion After Generating an Average of $7.4 Million Per Day in 2020". Sensor Tower. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  9. ↑ Lyons, Bethany (July 17, 2020). "The success of Fortnite is big enough to share". SuperData Research. Nielsen Company. Archived from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  10. ↑ Chapple, Craig (6 January 2021). "Call of Duty: Mobile Shoots Past $14 Million in First Week in China". Sensor Tower. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 DeAngelo, Daniel (3 November 2021). "Genshin Impact Made More Money in Its First Year Than Any Other Game". Game Rant. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Consolidated Results for the Nine Months Ended December 30, 2019 and 2020" (PDF). Nintendo. August 6, 2020. p. 3. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  13. ↑ Deschamps, Marc (September 1, 2020). "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Passes 30 Million Copies Sold". ComicBook.com. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  14. ↑ Valentine, Rebekah (25 November 2019). "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare sold 4.75m digital units in its launch month". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  15. ↑ Clifford, Tyler (10 February 2021). "'Grand Theft Auto V' sold 20 million units in 2020, the most since its 2013 release, Take-Two CEO says". CNBC. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  16. ↑ "Disclosure of estimated sales of Cyberpunk 2077" (PDF). CD Projekt Red. 22 December 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 December 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  17. ↑ Peters, Jay (23 September 2020). "Among Us is so popular that its developers just canceled the sequel". The Verge. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  18. ↑ "Among Us". Steam Spy. Archived from the original on April 23, 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  19. ↑ "Worldwide digital games market: December 2020". SuperData Research. Nielsen Company. 22 January 2021. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  20. ↑ Wood, Austin (1 December 2020). "Fall Guys has sold over 11 million copies on PC and is now the most downloaded PS Plus game". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  21. ↑ "Earnings Release for the Nine-Period Ended December 2019: Supplementary Information" (PDF). Nintendo. January 30, 2020. p. 7. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  22. ↑ Calvin, Alex (February 9, 2021). "$70 price hike hasn't stopped NBA 2K21 selling 8 million copies". VG 247. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Dring, Christopher (January 15, 2021). "Nintendo and GTA 5 come top in big year for Australia game sales | Australia Annual Report". Gamesindustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Dring, Christopher (January 15, 2021). "Nintendo Switch accounted for 87% of consoles sold in Japan last year | Japan Annual Report". Gamesindustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Dring, Christopher (8 February 2021). "Digital downloads jumped 47% across Europe in 2020: European Annual Report". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Dealessandri, Marie (January 15, 2021). "2020 sees record US games spending at $56.9bn | US Annual Report". Gamesindustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  27. ↑ Schmucker, Hans (January 21, 2021). "Press release: FIFA 21 Europe's best-selling game in 2020" (PDF). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 2021-11-06.
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