Digital charts: Fortnite breaks new record, Pokémon Go at its highest since 2016

SuperData just released its global digital charts for May, with Fortnite once again being at the top of the console listings. For the first time, Epic’s battle royale hit earned over $300m in a single month, adding $200m to the free-to-play console segment compared to last year.

“We estimate that Fortnite made $318 million across all platforms in May, up 7% from April. The majority of growth came from console, with mobile and PC both coming in flat compared to April,” SuperData reported. With the title having released on Switch since this report, it’s likely its performance will be even higher in the June charts.

However, it’s mobile that saw the most growth in April (up 36 per cent year-on-year), with Pokémon Go’s active player base being at its highest since its peak in 2016. The announcement of Pokémon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee (which will allow Pokémon Go players to send their roster to the new Switch titles with the possibility to then catch them) could explain why players came back to the title in numbers. But SuperData added that the title usually have this boost when summer is on the horizon: “Pokémon Go generated $104 million in May, up 174% year-over-year. The player base increased to the highest level since the game’s peak in 2016 – just in time for the usual summer bump that goes hand-in-hand with the game’s walkabout gameplay.”

Meanwhile, Sony did well with Detroit: Become Human in May, which charted at No.6 in the console charts. According to SuperData, the title sold 291,000 digital units during its launch month, adding that it’s a “solid reception for a console-exclusive and new IP.” God of War, which charted at No.2 in April, lost three spots to No.5 in May.

Digital spending worldwide was up 25 per cent year-on-year, with gamers spending $9.1bn digitally across all platforms this May.