SAN FRANCISCO, July 24 — Some US$10.46 billion (RM44.46 billion) was spent on digital games in June 2020, the second-highest monthly total ever following a US$10.54bn figure attained in April and largely thanks to mobile gaming, according to SuperData Research.

Mobile games revenue reached an all-time high in June 2020, according to Nielsen analytics firm SuperData Research, thanks to seasonal growth boosted by what SuperData determined to be an effect of the Covid-19 pandemic: the relative reduction in alternative entertainment options.

At the same time, spending on PC and console remained lower than those platforms' own all-time peaks reached in March.

June's worldwide top grossing mobile games were Peacekeeper Elite (an official Chinese rebrand of Battle Royale game PUBG), Honor of Kings (a spin on computer game League of Legends by its studio's parent company), Free Fire (a Battle Royale optimised for lower-end devices), Pokémon Go, and Roblox.

Gardenscapes, Coin Master, Last Shelter: Survival, Candy Crush Saga, and the western version of PUBG rounded out the top ten for mobile devices.

On console, the highly anticipated PlayStation 4 tentpole The Last of Us Part II set a new record for PlayStation-exclusive launches when it debuted in June.

In selling 2.8 million units after release midway through the month, it overtook the 2.2m apiece of Marvel's Spider-Man and Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Two-thirds of launch numbers were thanks to pre-orders, which SuperData considered to be unusually high and likely predictive of a sharp slowdown in sales.

On PC, while players outspent Fortnite's community to make new release Valorant the month's sixth highest-grossing PC title instead, they couldn't outmatch purchases made within fifth-highest title, creative family-friendly game Roblox. — AFP-Relaxnews