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Sorry, GameStop: digital games market up 7% year-on-year in October

Brenna Hillier avatar
News by Brenna Hillier Contributor
Published on

Consumer appetite for digital purchases continues to grow.

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Industry analyst firm Superdata filed its report on the digital market for the month of October, reporting a 7% year-on-year increase to $5.5 billion in global spend.

"In the lead-up to the holiday season, total digital games sales hit their highest point for the year so far," CEO Joost van Dreunen wrote. "With the exception of pay-to-play MMOs, all segments managed to grow their revenue."

Digital console in particular saw a terrific year-on-year revenue spike of 14% to $375 million.

It's always nice to see growth in the industry, but the good news is especially welcome right now. Mega retail chain GameStop had an investor briefing this week in which it cited dramatic under-performance of games like Halo 5, Assassin's Creed Syndicate and Star Wars Battlefront as an explanation for declines in revenue and profits.

We might have let this slide if it hadn't been for comments from president Tony Bartel, who found all sorts of reasons to explain why Halo 5 wasn't actually selling hugely despite Microsoft's statements to the contrary. Analysts had a good laugh at that one. Don't let anybody tell you the industry is in its death throes because half of us can't be bothered walking to the shops any more.

Anyway, here are Superdata's charts for October:

Top selling digital titles by category, October 2015

    Digital console
  • 1. FIFA 16
  • 2. Destiny
  • 3. Grand Theft Auto V
  • 4. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
  • 5. FIFA 15
    PC DLC
  • 1. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
  • 2. Grand Theft Auto V
  • 3. Guild Wars 2
  • 4. Minecraft
  • 5. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
    Free-to-play MMO
  • 1. League of Legends
  • 2. Crossfire
  • 3. Dungeon Fighter Online
  • 4. World of Tanks
  • 5. Maplestory
    Pay-to-play MMO
  • 1. World of WarCraft (West)
  • 2. Lineage I (East)
  • 3. Star Wars: The Old Republic
  • 4. World of WarCraft (East)
  • 5. TERA: Online (West)
    Mobile
  • 1. Clash of Clans
  • 2. Game of War: Fire Age
  • 3. Monster Strike
  • 4. Puzzle & Dragons
  • 5. Candy Crush Saga
    Social
  • 1. DoubleDown Casino
  • 2. Candy Crush Saga
  • 3. Slotomania
  • 4. FarmVille 2
  • 5. Candy Crush Soda Saga

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