2020 was a tremendous year for gaming, as the dollar figures only confirm. With the industry as a whole earning a jaw-dropping US$139.9 billion across the board and weighted aggregate growth of approximately 12%, the one-two combination of heavyweight releases finally hitting the market and COVID-19 induced lockdown meant some of the year’s highest-earning video games racked up some impressive numbers.
Breaking down that hefty US$139.9 billion total…
- US$73.8 billion came from mobile gaming
- US$33.1 billion came from PC gaming
- US$19.7 billion came from console gaming
- US$9.3 billion came from gaming video content (GVC)
- and US$6.7 billion came from the growing sector of virtual reality gaming (VR)
Interestingly enough, given the wider active user base, free-to-play titles have once again lapped its premium titles by a noticeable margin. For reference, the highest-earning premium game was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare at US$1.91 billion; while the fifth-highest free-to-play game, Pokemon Go, came in at US$1.92 billion. Additionally, only the top two premium entrants crossed the capital B threshold, whereas every name on the free-to-play list crossed it quite comfortably (with around half a billion of breathing to spare at the very least).
Check it out for yourself below.
The highest-earning video games in 2020 (premium titles)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – US$1.91 billion
[Activision Blizzard]
Genre: Shooter - FIFA 2020 – US$1.08 billion
[Electronic Arts]
Genre: Sports - Grand Theft Auto V – US$911 million
[Take Two Interactive Software]
Genre: Action/Adventure - NBA 2K21 – US$889 million
[Take Two Interactive]
Genre: Sports - NBA 2K20 – US$771 million
[Take Two Interactive]
Genre: Sports - Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War – US$678 million
[Activision Blizzard]
Genre: Shooter - Animal Crossing; New Horizons – US$654 million
[Nintendo]
Genre: Simulation - Cyberpunk 2077 – US$609 million
[CD Projekt]
Genre: RPG - Sims 4 – US$462 million
[Electronic Arts]
Genre: Simulation - DOOM Eternal – US$454 million
[Bethesda]
Genre: Shooter
RELATED: Is ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ Everything We Were Promised?
The highest-earning video games in 2020 (free-to-play titles)
- Honour of Kings – US$2.45 billion
[Tencent]
Genre: MOBA - Peacekeeper Elite – US$2.32 billion
[Tencent]
Genre: Shooter - Roblox – US$2.29 billion
[Roblox Corporation]
Genre: Simulation - Free Fire – US$2.13 billion
[Garena]
Genre: Shooter - Pokemon GO – US$1.92 billion
[Niantic]
Genre: Action/Adventure - League of Legends – US$1.7 billion
[Tencent]
Genre: MOBA - Candy Crush Saga – US$1.66 billion
[King, Activision Blizzard]
Genre: Puzzle - AFK Arema – US$1.45 billion
[Lilith Games]
Genre: Strategy - Gardenscapes – New Acres – US$1.43 billion
[Playtrix Games]
Genre: Puzzle - Dungeon Fighter Online – US$1.41 billion
[Nexon]
Genre: RPG
