Digital game spending reached $4.36B for Black Friday

Digital gaming spending for Black Friday 2019 topped $4.36 billion according to SuperData. The total was calculated from spending across the period from Black Friday to Cyber Monday.

SuperData has explained that digital spending for the period has increased year-on-year by 9 percent. It’s thought that major game releases such as Death Stranding and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare have helped boost spending this year, but major discounts for in-game spending and digital storefronts have also played their part.

Most of the total spending seen over the Black Friday period came from free-to-play games. These games, such as Fortnite, brought in $3.3 billion, which pushes in-game spending up by 13 percent year-on-year. $300 million was generated by premium PC content for the same period.

SuperData added that whilst in-game digital spending makes up a good portion of US holiday revenue, 79 percent of all digital games revenue in 2018 was generated by in-game spending. The firm has explained that this figure looks set to be the same, if not higher, for 2019.

Subscription services will have an impact on digital games spending this year, helping the segment grow even more year-on-year. The subscription service segment itself, made up of services like Xbox Game Pass and Stadia, is expected to increase by 47 percent between 2019 and 2020. This would push the segment to generating $1.15 billion in 2020.

Black Friday sales began early this year, with the week leading up to the sales holiday seeing heavy discounts across a number of items. Once Black Friday came around, even more sales went live, and new items added to current promotions.

While Black Friday may be over now, holiday period promotions are already beginning at retailers around the world. Competitions have started, offering consumers the chance to win items in exchange for making purchases, and there are even countdowns of special offers leading right up until Christmas Day.

There are still some big games yet to release in 2019 as the year draws to a close. Red Dead Redemption 2 for PC will surely provide a huge boost to digital PC sales, and probably even microtransactions with the addition of Red Dead Redemption 2 Online.