Unpacking the Top PC & Console Games by Revenue in Q3 2024
Every quarter, we review our revenue data to uncover the highest-grossing PC and console games by total revenue (premium and in-game revenues).
And Q3 2024 was a doozy.
Giant sports games rocked onto the field, cross-platform releases like Valorant and Ghost of Tsushima fared well, and Black Myth: Wukong won over many gamers across the six markets we cover.
In this article, we dig into several top ten cumulative revenue rankings for Q3, including:
So, let’s not waste any time. We’ve got a lot of top games to cover.
EA Sports College Football 25 was the top-grossing game in Q3 2024
In the first half of the year, Fortnite reigned supreme in cumulative revenues, and only three sports games made it into that metric’s top ten. EA Sports FC 24 was a top performer for most of the year, leading engagement and revenue ranks consistently.
Last quarter saw the winds change. Sports titles comprised half of the top ten cumulative revenue rankings, with EA Sports College Football 25 and EA Sports FC 25 (released on September 27th) taking the top two spots.
The college game accounted for over 18% of the top ten’s total cumulative revenue. The five sports games that made the top ten accounted for just over 28% of all cumulative revenues from July through December.
Black Myth: Wukong also made a considerable impact in the six markets that we cover (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the US). It was the fifth-highest-grossing game across PC and console, edging out Valorant and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II/III/Warzone 2.0.
The wildly popular AAA debut from Game Science – Black Myth: Wukong was the first non-mobile game from the studio – also accounted for nearly 4% of Q3’s total cumulative revenues. It was also the sixth most-played Adventure game by monthly active users (MAU) in September.
For reverence, also check out the top 10 PC and console games by the same revenue metric from the first half of the year.
Black Myth: Wukong was the highest-grossing game on PC in Q3 2024
If you split the top games by cumulative revenue across platform lines, you see that Black Myth: Wukong was #1 on PC in the US and European countries we cover, while sports games comprised half of the top 10 games across console (PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch).
Black Myth: Wukong, which launched in late August and became a hit in its home market and well beyond, accounted for nearly 7% of Q3’s PC revenues. Its revenue figures outmatched Valorant’s performance by a sliver (~6.9% versus ~6.8%).
God of War: Ragnar?k also appeared on the list among other established and new heavy hitters, thanks in part to the Digital Edition Deluxe Upgrade released on Steam in late September.
On the console side, sports games again showed up as revenue champions. The five sports titles in the top ten PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch rankings accounted for almost 40% of console revenues in Q3. The newest (non-American) football game made up over 11% of all revenues, continuing the legacy of EA Sports FC 24.
Other noteworthy inclusions in both platforms’ rankings were Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and Star Wars Outlaws, both entries in longstanding franchises. The first-ever main Zelda game to spotlight the titular character over Link – The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom – also made the top ten on console.
For extra context, we also pulled the top 10 PC and console games by cumulative revenues from January through June.
Space Marine 2 was the second highest-grossing new game on PC in Q3 2024
Last quarter was certainly exciting from a new game standpoint. However, behemoths like Fortnite and the Call of Duty games still loomed large in the competition for player spending. So, what happens if you remove them from the ranking?
In this ranking, Space Marine 2 was the second highest-grossing game on PC. Star Wars Outlaws and The First Descendant came in at #3 and #4, respectively.
Despite mixed reception from critics and fans, the new Star Wars game has seen its engagement grow since August (it was the sixth most-played Adventure game by MAU in September). It accounted for over 10% of new game revenues on PC. Outlaws also accounted for just over 3% of new console revenues.
The world of new console games was yet again dominated by sports games. Space Marine 2 was the only game in the top five console titles that wasn’t a new entry from an established sports franchise.
One highlight in that ranking, though, was Astro Bot. The game accounted for over 1.7% of new console game revenues, but it received universal acclaim across every rating system known to games. The PlayStation exclusive, commemorating 30 years of the console, holds a 94 Metacritic score, a 9/10 on IGN, and was the fifth most-played Platform by MAU in September.
The top PC and console games by cumulative revenue across every platform and market
To get the most complete view of Q3’s top revenue performers, we broke down our ranking by platform and market.
First, we compared the top games overall in the US and the five European markets that we cover. This shows that, while sports games scooped up considerable player spending, US audiences had a clear preference for American football and basketball. EA Sports FC 25 and its predecessor were the top-grossing games in Europe in Q3. ?
Next, we compared the top PC games across the same market split. Black Myth: Wukong outperformed other PC games in Europe, but it’s important to note that the game generated more revenues in the US market.
The top PlayStation and Xbox games showed similar regional differences in the overall market comparison. What you don’t see on this ranking is that Palworld, the indie title that took Q1 by storm, was #14 across all six markets on PlayStation, after finally making it to the console on September 24th.
European football games were the top revenue generators on both consoles in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK. American football took the top spot for the US on PlayStation and Xbox. EA Sports FC 25 did rank #8 on PlayStation, though.
Finally, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom was the top Switch game. This market comparison was less about which market loved which version of football and more about a few title-level deviations.
Hogwarts Legacy and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom both retained popularity (in terms of their ability to sway player spending) in Europe. In the US, the latest Pokémon titles and the?newest outing for Luigi were among the highlights.
Of course, the US market’s ranking didn’t have EA Sports FC 25. No matter which platform we look at, sports is always part of the story.
How we landed on these top-game numbers
Now that you’ve journeyed through the top PC and console games by cumulative revenues last quarter, you’re probably wondering how we arrived at these games. Let’s look at the metric and scope we used in the?Newzoo Platform to forge this revenue ranking:
What’s your takeaway from the Q3 results?
Game Content Creator | xZynga-Rollic | Product Manager / Business Development Manager | Game Prototyping & Strategy Growth |
4 周Would love to see full take aways!
Data Analysis and Product Management in the gaming industry | SQL | Excel | Tableau | Python
1 个月Crazy how the PC platform is still dominated by other genres than sport games. I would have expected larger penetration by now, seeing as more and more people are playing PC in the living room with big screens, which is the traditional place for Sport games, particularly for Local Co-op or PvP. Just goes to show the larger PC demographic is still very much into a different play style and set up.
Research Scholar ll Esports ll Digital Gaming ll User Engagement ll Video Games ll Consumer Behaviour ll Lusory Attitude
1 个月Very informative. This highlights that Sports based video games are more preferred to be played on Consoles over other genres.