Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
League Of Legends, Destiny, Pokémon Go Lead Top-Grossing Charts For September
Although sports games dominated the physical games space in September, the NPD report doesn't paint the full picture of where the money is going when it comes to video games. Research firm SuperData compiles more online-oriented data, releasing monthly reports of how much money games make are making through their in-game microtransactions as well as well as title sales.
As PVP Live reports, the firm has released its findings for September 2016, including a chart of which games were the grossed the most cash on PC, console, and mobile. Not surprisingly, League of Legends takes the number-one spot, followed by World of WarCraft and Crossfire, a tactical shooter developed in South Korea and published by Smilegate (which is owned by Tencent, owner of League of Legends developer Riot Games).
On consoles, Destiny (which dropped its Rise of Iron expansion on September 20) rules the roost with $59.1 million in revenue for the month, followed by FIFA 17 and Call of Duty: Black Ops, as well as Grand Theft Auto V. This should be no surprise, as all of these titles are full-priced games that also offer microtransactions.
Pokémon Go is still king on phones, leading the pack over Monster Strike (an RPG/strategy game similar to Puzzle and Dragons, which also makes an appearance on the top 10) and Clash Royale.
Despite not taking top honors on either PC or Console, Overwatch has managed to make its way onto both the console and PC top 10 lists, which bodes well for the game's community across all platforms. The lists for console, PC, and mobile games break down as follows:
PC
1. League of Legends
2. World of WarCraft
3. Crossfire
4. Dungeon Fighter Online
5. Overwatch
6. World of Tanks
7. Dota 2
8. Fantasy Westward Journey Online II
9. Maplestory
10. Lineage 1
Console
1. Destiny
2. FIFA 17
3. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
4. Grand Theft Auto V
5. NBA 2K17
6. FIFA 16
7. Star Wars Battlefront
8. Madden NFL 17
9. Forza Horizon 3
10. Overwatch
Mobile
1. Pokémon Go
2. Monster Strike
3. Clash Royale
4. Mobile Strike
5. Game of War: Fire Age
6. Clash of Clans
7. Fantasy Westward Journey
8. Puzzle & Dragons
9. Candy Crush Saga
10. Clash of Kings
[Source: PVP Live]
Our Take
These lists serve as a great reminder that there's a wide swath of gaming many gamers aren't aware of. I'd completely forgotten about Dungeon Fighter Online being a huge success, for example. And of course, it shows that with the right avenues for income in place, popular titles can outperform new releases for years in terms of sheer revenue.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
