SuperData Research has revealed its latest stats for overall digital sales of video-games in 2015. According to the stats, PC gaming has generated $32 billion in 2015, whereas mobile gaming has generated $25.1 billion and console gaming generated around 4$ billion. In other words, the king is dead, long live the king.
As SuperData Research’s report stated:
“PC-based gaming—consisting of free-to-play MMOs, subscription-based games like World of Warcraft, social games and PC downloadable games—earns over $32 billion annually, well above the $25.1 billion generated by mobile games. Three of the year’s top five digital PC games (Grand Theft Auto V, Fallout 4 and The Witcher 3) were released in 2015, indicating that PC gamers have made significant progress transitioning to purchasing games digitally.”
What’s also really interesting is that the top 10 PC games generated more money/revenue than the top 10 mobile or the top 10 console games.
SuperData Research has provided the following stats and as we can see, the F2P games generate a lot of money. And when we say a lot, we mean A LOT.
Top Grossing PC Games by Revenue, 2015 (mil $)
- League of Legends Tencent/Riot Games $1,628
- CrossFire SmileGate $1,110
- Dungeon Fighter Online Neople $1,052
- World of Warcraft Activision $814
- World of Tanks Wargaming.net $446
- Lineage I NCSOFT $339
- Maplestory Nexon $253
- DOTA 2 Valve Corporation $238
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Valve Corporation $221
- Grand Theft Auto V Take-Two Interactive $205
For comparison purposes, here are the stats for mobile and console games.
Top Grossing Mobile Games by Revenue, 2015 (mil $)
- Clash of Clans Supercell $1,345
- Game of War: Fire Age Machine Zone $799
- Puzzle & Dragons Gungho Online Ent. Inc $729
- Candy Crush Saga King Digital $682
- MonsterStrike Mixi $674
- Candy Crush Soda Saga King Digital $518
- Fantasy Westward Journey NetEase $451
- Colopl Rune Story COLOPL NI Inc $356
- Disney Tsum Tsum LINE Corp $326
- Boom Beach Supercell $297
Top Grossing Console Games by Revenue, 2015 (mil $)
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Activision $355
- FIFA 15 Electronic Arts $332
- Grand Theft Auto V Take-Two Interactive $322
- Destiny Activision $291
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III Activision $224
- FIFA 16 Electronic Arts $212
- Fallout 4 Bethesda Softworks $108
- Star Wars Battlefront Electronic Arts $106
- Madden NFL 16 Electronic Arts $76
- Madden NFL 15 Electronic Art $73
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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2016 will be the strongest year for PC gaming.
I think more and more people are now moving towards PC gaming.
A lot of console gamers have realised that this generation of console hardware is weak and barely able to sustain 30 fps at 1080p. Yet PC gamers are now playing at 4K resolutions and 60fps or 2k at 120 hz and higher.
This trend will continue.
Hold on just a second. While the PC figure may sound good on paper, look at what games there are. The entire list save the last place is comprised of online mmo’s or f2p bullsh|t. Most revenue coming from asian countries. Is this what you wanna play or does Dishonored 2, Mass Effect, Deus Ex, Mirror’s Edge 2, Dark Souls 3 sound better? PC is strong, but i wish it’s strength would come from another direction other than online crap.
i agree, if anything, this sends a wrong message to AAA publishers who think PC is only MOBAS and F2P BS
AAA publishers has their own numbers, if thats the case, then consoles are just COD, FPS and GTA. But still publishers releases RPG and adventure games.
Well spoken sir! Its not something to celebrate.. Of course it is a plus for the PC community but the approach must change were people spend money to more serious gaming titles than F2P and online MMO games that I always hated! A gamer since 1989…
Wow, moar serious? You are pretty elistist. Every game you hate or dont play is not serious… :S
This success doesn’t affect the seriousness developers will show
regarding AAA titles and not this online craze. I know and we all know a LOT of people who only play LoL or WoW etc. How these people benefit PC gaming community regarding other games besides MMOs? I hate these games not because I just don’t like them but because I believe its a factor responsible for the downhill gaming is taking. Developers found the easy way to make money and abandoned the hardcore gaming. You see all those millions in $ for these games in the list with visuals and overall appeal that my mobile can run and on the other hand PC gamers end up with AAA console ports full of issues. And I ask you if half of these millions were spent on games besides MMOs and Counter Strike games wouldn’t things be different for the PC gaming community? Yes.
AAA games poor anyway, generic as well, why not support proper PC games that don’t require joypads and consoles to dumb them down. WoW and Eve Online have been going for over 10 years while all these generic multiplatform AAA games are long dead and finished.
Hmm.. Ok buddy..
Now that’s funny, hating on PC gamers because most play games you don’t like or play. It seems to me your PC gamers only want games that you play one top, FFS, they’re PC games, the amount of money they make doesn’t effect you and you don’t even play them. You should be happy PC is on top in terms of revenue of games.
Its funny, isn’t it?
Well I hope that is true and the future will confirm that…
Pretty much what crossed my mind when looking at the list. There needs to be more premium games on there.
Other than Call of Duty most AAA PC games sell on par with console versions if not more. They may start of slowly but in the long run AAA PC sales have long legs and games keep selling for years and years longer. Games like Skyrim, Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, Borderlands 2, Payday 2, Tomb Raider (2013) etc are still selling strong on PC whereas the sales of these games have long been dead on consoles and the only sales being that of pre-owned copies. Last years biggest AAA games GTA V, Fallout 4, The Witcher 3 have sold as many copies on PC as they have on PS4. Even Battlefield 4 has now sold the most on PC after more than 2 years of great support by DICE.
Think about it, at least there are not Call of Duty and EA sh ! t on PC, I respect more those Moba stuff than these Kids playing aiming assisted games.
The games you mentioned are actually pretty niche, even on consoles, no way Dishonored, Mirror Edge or Deus ex to sell more copies than COD or GTA. Still those games are coming to PC, so as they sell enough to keep devs interest on PC I cant care less what are those chinese people playing on.
Uhh … I don’t think some readers don’t get it. This is a “TOP 10 LIST”. Which means if the 11th-20th are AAA games that are not F2P then PC is still as good as consoles. Note that consoles’ top 10 game, Madden 15, had a revenue of only 73M while PC’s top 10 game, GTA V, had a revenue of 205M so the top 11th-20th PC game could still be as profitable as it’s counterparts on consoles —__— …
yep its all esports as i have always said. esports and cash shop mmo’s. thats the pc incime. people buying skins and cases. as far a AAA titles go pc cant beat console and this article proves it.
This ‘f2p bullshit’ generated $32 BILLION. No matter how you cut it, that’s not a small amount of money. Even if you personally do not like these kind of games, there’s evidently a large number of people out there that do.. and those people keep the games industry afloat.
Quality for the buck I say.
2016 good year need to upgrade my pc rig :O
like i always said and this article confirms that esports and cash shop f2p mmo’s are the reason pc makes more money then consoles. idiots buying cases/kins. as far as PURE AAA title game sales pc cant beat console… lol
the research.. does it bear any facts? just a research. survey right?
Yes, everything is a lie —__— coz I bet this company/people(SuperData Research) is super biased and only wants PC to sound successful, right?
errm, Fallout? And that’s a stretch…
Peasents comments in 3,2,1…
pc is for esports and cash shop mmo’s.have fun buying cases and skins.this clearly showes consoles destroys pc in AAA title sales and this doesnt even include physical sales just digital..go play your league and buy a $2.00 skin…lmao
And you point is?
Uhh … I don’t think some readers don’t get it. This is a “TOP 10 LIST”. Which means if the 11th-20th are AAA games that are not F2P then PC is still as good as consoles. Note that consoles’ top 10 game, Madden 15, had a revenue of only 73M while PC’s top 10 game, GTA V, had a revenue of 205 so the top 11th-20th PC game could still be as profitable as it’s counterparts on consoles —__—
its all esports as i have always said and cash shop mmo’s. as far as AAA titles go pc cant beat console in sales.. so go ahead and buy your skins/cases.. lmao
Well, look at the consoles, yearly franchise AAA junk on top.
thats what consoles are about AAA titles.thats what e3 is about AAA titles.pc is about its cash shop esports and mmo cash shops.thats how pc makes its money this article confirms that.
Yes, we knew this, it’s really nothing new. Stop criticizing the PC for being esports mainly in money terms, the PC has always had a different market for games, the consoles have actually followed it ,that’s why you’re seeing more than more MMO type games on console. F2P games have also caught on to consoles.
it pretty much is esports as you can see buy the list up there. this also doesnt include console physical sales so think how much higher that number is. console does bot digital and physical sales.
all this does is show esports and cash shop mmo’s being the money makers. people buying skins and cases. like i said before pc cant beat console for AAA title releases. pc is mainly esports and mmo’s as far as revenue goes.
We know this, AAA are heavy advertised on consoles and they’re nothing without AAA because they sell the console. Mind you, with the failed AAA exclusive console games and sub 30fps just proves people will buy cr*p.
yep.with all the grey market cd keys sites like g2a,kinguin and gmg thats why the devs want to make games on consoles to make money.the pc can have their crap esports and mmo cash shops.if you havent noticed about every pc game that comes out is cash shop heavy..lol
ill take the big AAA titles over any esport any day.
browsing a pc gaming website while not being a pc gamer? full of hate are we? i guess you once tried pc gaming but installing drivers and the such proved to be way much of a hassle to your peasant capabilities 🙁
also AAA titles suck, the only AAA title in the last 2 years i probably care about is bayo 2 which isnt even x1 / ps4
PC is great for indies as most of them come here due to the low barriers of entry and thats what me and my friends play so you can keep your stupid shooters like far cry or tomb rider if you want.
so go ahead and buy your mind numbing stupid shooters… lmao 🙂
AAA titles is what gaming is all about.its why we have a e3.now why we have a psx.i hate esports but i do like to play wow.reguardless of what you try to say this article backs me up in saying pc is for esports and cash shop mmo’s.
Two fifa games(i play only fighters because i want violence ad action) two NFL(they are not fighters to so dont care again)Call of duty one of the most poupular fps francise on on both pc and console. And GTA that is one of the best games ever made are the best selling games on consoles. Where is Metal Gear 5? Where is Mortal Kombat 10? Where is Mad max? Where is Witcher 3? Instead of those games that mentioned to be on top 10 pc and/or console charts they are nothing to be found. Instead stupid football, mmo, free to play e.t.c games are dominating the top 10 of pc and console charts as we see here. What does it proves? That there are more casuaal gamers on both platforms(because let face it fifa and those free to play games on pc are crap) than serious gamers like me.
GTA 5 comes out 2 years later after consoles and makes a sh*t load of money, beating all the last 4 console games by more than double in some cases. World of Tanks on PC beats the top selling console game by nearly a 100 million. LOL
thats just digital sales on pc.if you took digital sales on consoles and added the physical copies pc doesnt stand a chance..loltry again.the pc is all esport skins/cases and cash shop mmo’s…lol
consoles will always out sell pc on AAA titles. look at the console list all AAA titles and it doesnt include physical copies sold either. the pc has its esports and cash shop mmo’s. AAA titles are for consoles as this shows. as i have always said also.. lol
crossfire, dungeon fighter and maplestory? funny how those 3 are hardly known here in the west
PCMASTERRACE!!! Umfff… F YEAH! Die console peasants! #4K #SteamDayOne #CheapGames #Mods #SuperSampling #RawPower #SuperiorControls #PcMasterRaceFTW
its ALL esport mmo cash shop.the pc cant compete with console AAA titles sales and this doesnt include physical sales…lol its idiots buying skins and cases as seen buy the list….lmao
HA!
Way too many cash shop games dominating these lists. Fallout 4 and SW Battlefront are the only games out of the lot that aren’t infested with microtransactions.
thats the pc way esport and mmo cash shop.pc cant compete with console AAA title sales.this is the only they say pc makes more money.people buying skins and cases.
Apparently it’s now the console way as well because 8 out of the 10 console games on that list have microtransactions.
yep which means consoles will be making more money.this doesnt even include the physical cd sales.this is just digital.believe it or not consoles are bigger money then pc.
with the esport scene coming to console like over watch,smite,rainbow six and many more its going to make a lot more money imo.
BUT BUT BUT PIRATING, AND AND AND BAD DEVELOPERS, AND AND AND PC GAMING TOO EXPENSIVE.