A new report featuring the highest-grossing games of 2019 confirms that Fortnite is still leading the pack in terms of revenue, despite the game being down 25% in profits in a year-over-year comparison. This news is unsurprising, as Epic Games' battle royale entry has long been a juggernaut of the industry. The unique 100-person setting of the title has allowed the developer to include previously unfathomable collaborations with other entertainment properties, with Fortnite most recently crossing over with Star Wars to reveal brand-new footage ahead of The Rise of Skywalker's debut in theaters.
These crossovers have led to a number of limited-time, in-game cosmetics appearing in Fortnite's digital storefront, allowing players to pick them up for a modest sum of real-world dollars. These cosmetics, alongside with rotating Season Passes, is how Epic Games has been generating revenue with the free-to-play title. It appears as if this will remain unchanged, although there is a dip in overall players from the game which is now present in the profits posted for Fortnite's profits.
In a recent year-over-year review of the digital gaming space from the Neilsen Company's SuperData, it was reported that Fortnite topped the digital game revenue charts once again with a whopping $1.8 billion generated. This is down 25% from 2018 when Epic Games pulled in $2.4 billion, which leads analysts at SuperData to conclude that Fortnite is beginning to stabilize. Other titles mentioned in the report includes Dungeon Fighter Online (which made $1.6 billion), Honour of Kings ($1.6 billion), League of Legends ($1.5 billion), Candy Crush Saga ($1.5 billion), Pokemon GO ($1.4 billion), Crossfire ($1.4 billion), Fate/Grand Order ($1.4 billion), Game for Peace ($1.2 billion), and Last Shelter: Survival ($1.1 billion).
As for premium game revenue, it declined 5% year-over-year in 2019, generating a still-impressive $18.9 billion. This dip is being attributed to an off-year in the industry which saw a drop in the number of triple-A releases. The highest-grossing games in this category were FIFA 20 ($786 million) and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare ($645 million). In truth, it's shocking to see how much free-to-play titles have been able to generate in comparison to annual blockbusters like CoD and FIFA, but the accessibility of games like Fortnite is likely why it's been such a profitable venture for Epic Games.
Despite the 25% dip in revenue, Fortnite has done a spectacular job at keeping players engaged through a number of major updates and in-game events. For example, Fortnite only just received split-screen multiplayer support on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, while Epic Games had the entire game sucked into a black hole for days before the game's second chapter released and introduced a slew of upgrades and changes to the equation. Given the success experienced by Fortnite so far and the strategy in place, it's likely to remain a top-tier contender in 2020 as well.
Source: SuperData