With digital game sales having a drastic profit increase this year, November 2020 managed to set a new all-time record for the highest number of digital sales. These new figures come after a month that has been dominated by the release of two next-gen consoles and a slew of games and updates.
2020 has been a very profitable year for gaming in general, but especially in terms of digital sales. The likely reason for this year's sharp increase in digital revenue is the grip that the COVID pandemic and resulting restrictions has had over the world since early March. Because of the pandemic, digital sales have increased so much to the point where it has outnumbered physical sales for the year. Even before the release of the PS5, sales for the PS4 had been on a steady increase throughout the year.
A SuperData report reveals that the revenue from digital games in November 2020 was $11.5 billion, which sets the all-time record for the highest monthly gaming revenue. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is at the top of digital console sales with 5.7 million units sold, while Free Fire and Pokémon GO were November's most highly profitable mobile games. On the PC spectrum, World of Warcraft topped the chart with the game's highest monthly revenue since 2008 thanks to its Shadowlands expansion. Other interesting figures include Spider-Man: Miles Morales selling 663,000 digital units on PS4 and PS5 and the wildly popular Among Us raking in half-a-billion active users.
Despite the long-awaited launch of the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X/S in the same record-breaking month, older platforms were still incredible drivers for November's digital sales and revenue due to the lack of availability for the new consoles and the already massive install bases on PS4, Xbox One - and mobile devices and PC, of course. Pokémon GO has remained on a hot streak throughout all of 2020 in downloads and digital revenue, with 2020 being the highest-earning year the game has ever seen since its 2016 launch.
With people being stuck in their homes, it makes sense that many would substitute physical cartridges for purchasing games digitally. It’s possible that this trend will continue to grow in 2021 as well. The battle of physical vs digital has remained a long-standing debate, but if there’s anything that the pandemic has taught gamers to appreciate, it’s the luxury of buying games from the comfort of one’s home.
Source: SuperData research