If Superdata’s numbers are any indication, April belonged to God of War and Fornite.
Superdata, an industry-tracking research firm that releases digital sales data each month, released their report for April and God of War sold an estimated 2.1 million digital units. This makes it the fastest-selling PS4-exclusive of all-time, and by quite a decent margin too. The PS4 game that previously held this record was 2016’s Uncharted 4.
When it released, Uncharted 4 sold 2.7 million copies, spread across digital and physical, in the first week, a la seven days. God of War, which released April 20, was on the market in April for 11 days. That’s four more days than Uncharted 4. In those 11 days, God of War sold 2.1 million digital units. This doesn’t include physical units, but, because the physical market is still larger than the digital market, it’s safe to infer that the game sold at least 2.1 million physical units–likely more. According to Superdata’s report, God of War sold more than double the units of Uncharted 4 at their respective launches.
Beyond God of War, Superdata’s report also indicates that Fornite is still making some serious money. Surprise, surprise.
Epic Games’ popular, free-to-play shooter made $296 million in April across console, PC and mobile, up from $223 million in March. While Fortnite’s numbers rose, the sales behemoth Grand Theft Auto V saw a decline in growth for the first time in 12 months.
Specifically speaking, this is in reference to the game’s online counterpart, GTA V Online. According to Superdata, GTA V Online’s revenue declined 9 percent year-over-year, thus ending its 12-month streak with year-over-year growth. GTA V Online has slowly declined each month since the start of the year. Superdata attributed this decline to the continuing rise of Fortnite and a lack of significant content updates from developer Rockstar.
Despite GTA V Online’s decline, worldwide spending grew by 23 percent in April. Last April, consumers spent $7.42 billion on digital games across console, PC and mobile. This April, gamers spent $9.09 billion. According to the report, the biggest growth drivers came from console and mobile spending which offset relatively flat growth rates on PC.
