Melany M. July 26, 2019
Overwatch has surpassed the $1 billion mark from in-game purchases alone.
According to a report by SuperData, Overwatch became the 64th game in industry history to generate over $1 billion from in-game content. Overwatch joins World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and Hearthstone as the sixth title from Activision Blizzard to reach this goal.
What can you buy in Overwatch?
It took Overwatch three years since its release date to generate $1 billion with its in-game content. Unlike some other games that allow players to buy in-game advantages and experience boosters, Overwatch's in-game goods are focused on cosmetics. All characters in the game are unlocked for players from the beginning.
The loot boxes, one of the game’s main source of income, include skins, sprays, highlight intros, emotes, victory poses, player icons, voice lines, and in-game credits. Players can also buy tokens and use these to purchase Overwatch League-themed skins.
This year, the Overwatch summer games event will introduce new athletic skins for Reaper, Mei, and Reinhardt, along with other seasonal items. The seasonal event is now online and the loot boxes are available for purchase.
These limited events attract the attention of the players that are always looking to acquire exclusive content.
Worldwide digital game revenues in June
SuperData’s report also included a list of the top-grossing titles divided by category. In the PC category, League of Legends was ranked number one followed by Dungeon Fighter Online. Fortnite was fifth, with Dota 2 and Hearthstone in seventh and eighth positions respectively. PUBG was listed in tenth.
Fortnite was second in the console category, surpassed only by Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. NBA 2K10 was third and Tom Clancy’s Rainbox Six Siege was listed in sixth. All of these titles have thriving esports scenes.
According to the report, worldwide digital revenue grew 2% to $9.2 billion with mobile games performing better than either console or PC.