Fortnite and Call of Duty: WWII drove digital game spending in February

The latest Superdata report says the worldwide digital videogames market grew six percent year-over-year in February 2018, hitting $9.1 billion in total. Interestingly, social, pay-to-play (subscription-based), and free-to-play markets on PC are actually all down slightly, but the premium PC market—that is, games that you actually have to buy if you want to play them—is up by 33 percent.

Overall digital spending in the US is actually up by 21 percent overall, according to the report, thanks to major games (Call of Duty: WWII was the top-earning console game for the month) and—surprise—the power of Fortnite: Battle Royale. PC free-to-play slipped by four percent, but Superdata said the free-to-play console market increased by 359 percent (that's not a typo, that's 359 percent) year-over-year, due to the popularity of Fortnite.

"Epic’s Battle Royale title showed no signs of losing steam," Superdata said. "Fortnite earned more additional content revenue on console than any game other than Call of Duty: WWII and now has more monthly active users than Grand Theft Auto V."

PUBG continues to be a major player, selling more than 2.5 million units on the month; PC sales are actually declining, but Xbox One sales are helping to compensate. Overwatch is also holding up well despite the pressure from the battle royale genre, thanks in large part to ongoing support through cosmetic updates and special events like the Lunar New Year celebration in February.

The top-ten earning games for the month, worldwide:

League of Legends
Dungeon Fighter Online
Fantasy Westward Journey Online 2
Crossfire
Playerunknown's Battlegrounds
Fortnite: Battle Royale
World of Warcraft
World of Tanks
Hearthstone
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

PRODUCTS

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.