Destiny 2 enjoys largest digital console launch ever - SuperData
The previous record holder was Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
Bungie's blockbuster release of Destiny 2 is proving to be a hit on the digital side, not just at retail. Publisher Activision Blizzard recently noted that the game has been the best-selling in the US to date in 2017, and now research firm SuperData has pointed out that the shooter has broken launch records for digital on console.
Although the units purchased digitally were not specified, SuperData said that Destiny 2's digital unit sales were "up significantly from Destiny 1 back in September 2014." The previous record holder for the most digital units sold by a console game within a single month was another Activision game, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3.
While Destiny 2 edged out both FIFA 18 and NBA 2K18, SuperData said that both sports franchises continued to expand their digital reach. "The sports franchises show little signs of slowing down. FIFA 18 console digital units came in significantly up from FIFA 17 last September despite a later release date this year, while NBA 2K18 console sales also saw a healthy jump," the firm stated.
On the PC side, while juggernaut PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has now overtaken both World of Warcraft and Crossfire in September revenue, SuperData also found that Larian Studios' new RPG Divinity: Original Sin 2 got off to a very nice start, selling over 660,000 digital units during its launch month. Talk of single-player being "dead" certainly isn't true given Divinity's sales. "This places it among other recent successful single-player-centric games such as Nier: Automata and Horizon Zero Dawn," SuperData commented.
Overall, in September digital games revenue jumped 15% worldwide, with gamers spending $8.3 billion across console, mobile and PC in September, up from $7.2 billion in the same month last year. A huge part of this growth came from a 25% jump in console digital revenue "on the back of rising download rates for new releases such as Destiny 2," SuperData said, which "more than offset double-digit declines in pay-to-play and a significant drop in social revenue."
Here are the digital charts for the month of September:
