SuperData’s monthly tracking of digital video game spending is in for September, and it was both Marvel’s Avengers and NBA 2K21 that were among the big winners as the industry surged to a $10.7 billion total, 14% up from this time last year.
Square Enix’s first super-hero game’s digital spending was roughly the same as 2018’s hugely popular Marvel’s Spider-Man, according to SuperData. Its digital launch was the second biggest in Square Enix history behind Final Fantasy VII Remake.
But September’s highest earner was actually NBA 2K21. The game sold fewer units digitally (1.9 million), but in-game revenue was up 8% year-on-year, boosting the total beyond Avengers.
Elsewhere, Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1 + 2 Remake sold a whopping 2.8 million copies, recording higher digital revenue than the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro Remakes.
Another Nostalgia-fuelled remake that sold impressive digital numbers was Super Mario 3D All-Stars with 1.8 million, the highest for a Mario game on Switch.
Crusader Kings III was another notable performer, with its critical acclaim surely helping to fuel a launch bigger than rival strategy franchises like Total War: Three Kingdoms from Sega or Sid Meier’s Civilization VI.
Interestingly, SuperData notes that while Among Us’ player numbers have rocketed as high as Pokemon Go during its biggest ever month in August of 2016, its revenue hasn’t been enough to see it break the top 40 games by digital spending.
Finally, Rocket League’s transition to the free-to-play model has been a huge boon, seeing player numbers swell to three times that of before. There are no hard revenue estimations, but SuperData claims the numbers since the transition match that of the previous three weeks when it was a premium product.
For last month’s SuperData report, it’s here.
