Wargaming and SuperData analyzed game sales in Russia in 2019

Wargaming and analytical firm SuperData Research have published a study of the Russian gaming market for 2019. The companies paid their attention to mobile and shareware projects, the most significant for Russians.

Data from SuperData Research suggests that the volume of the Russian video game market in 2019 amounted to more than $1,843 billion (8,5% more than in 2018). For comparison: film distribution fees for the same period amounted to about $800 million. Most of the growth came from mobile projects that earned more than $644 million (42% more). Their audience is also growing - in 2019 the number exceeded 44 million users (55,3% more).

“F2P has long and firmly established itself in mobile gaming,” said Alexander Filippov, lead game designer at World of Tanks Blitz. “This model easily absorbs monetization mechanics, from loot boxes and Battle Pass, to ad monetization and Apple Arcade subscription model. Of course, now it is the leader. Whether that will change as more subscription games become available, time will tell.”

RPG (Raid: Shadow Legends and Hero Wars – Fantasy World) became the most popular genre of mobile games in Russia in terms of the number of users: the number of monthly active gamers (MAU) is 9 million. The second place is taken by the genre of simulators (Roblox) — 6,769 million MAU. In third place was the strategy genre (State of Survival: Zombie War and Game of Sultans) - $ 6,4 million MAU.

On average, a paying Russian player spends about $1,25 per month on mobile projects. But the largest category of the Russian market is still shareware PC games. In 2019, they earned $764 million (about 41% of the income of the entire gaming industry in the country). The monthly audience of PC games is 73 million people (4% more than in 2018). On average, a Russian gamer spends about $25 a month on shareware PC games.

The most profitable shareware games in Russia in 2019:

1. World of Tanks
2. warfare;
3. Fortnite?
4. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive;
5. Dota 2
6. World of Warships;
7. Roblox;
8. crossfire;
9. Apex Legends;
10. Hearthstone:Heroes of Warcraft.

“Almost doubled the position of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in 2019 in terms of audience and money in the Russian market thanks to the transition to a shareware business model in December 2018 and the addition of the Danger Zone battle royale mode. Also in the top shareware games there was a replenishment - Apex Legends from Respawn Entertainment, the developers of the Titanfall game series. We cannot but rejoice at the stable presence of our two main projects in the top - World of Tanks and World of Warships. "Ships", unfortunately, has moved down one position due to the success of Roblox, which is popular with a young audience. Roblox is an online multiplayer platform where users can create and play games created by other users. Fortnite in 2019 fell a little behind Warface, and my favorite card game Hearthstone moved from 6th place to last. In addition, the hack 'n' slash game Path of Exile and MOBA Heroes of the Storm flew out of the top,” said Alexey Rumyantsev, an analyst at Wargaming.

In addition, Wargaming and SuperData Research spoke about paid PC games, which in 2019 occupied about 10,6% of the Russian market. The income of such projects amounted to $195 million (11,6% less than in 2018).

The most profitable paid PC games in Russia in 2019:

1. Borderlands 3;
2. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds;
3. Grand Theft Auto V;
4. Red Dead Redemption 2;
5. Gears 5;
6. Top Clancy's The Division 2;
7. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege;
8. Battlefield V;
9. Overwatch;
10. The Sims 4.

Analysts and the console market discussed.

“In general, I am very pleased that the console market in the region has begun to wake up,” said Andrei Gruntov, regional director for publishing console versions of World of Tanks. - Only in the last couple of years, the number of consoles sold began to grow rapidly upwards, both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, although the latter is not so popular. In terms of the number of newcomers to the World of Tanks Console, we see that more players are starting to come in 2020 compared to 2019 and 2018. We also see that the owners of consoles in our game are people in their 30s and 40s. This means that the concept of entertainment consumption, which is basically inherent in the West, also changes with age in the CIS region: you no longer want to bother with a PC in order to constantly keep it up to date, and this is also a fixed cost. I want to come home after work, sit in a chair and just take a break from the daily work routine - and the console is right there again - sit, play and relax. With each year, I think this trend will grow and the console market in the region will only grow, especially with the upcoming next generation of consoles from Sony and Microsoft, which will take console gaming to a new level.”

The most popular console shareware games in Russia in 2019:

1. Fortnite?
2. Apex Legends;
3. Destiny 2;
4. World of Tanks
5. Warframe;
6. warfare;
7. Smith;
8. brawlhalla;
9. Paladins;
10. War Thunder.

The most popular console paid games in Russia in 2019:

1. FIFA 19;
2. FIFA 20;
3. Grand Theft Auto V;
4. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order;
5. Tom Clancy's The Division 2;
6. Mortal Kombat 11;
7. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4;
8. Red Dead Redemption 2;
9. Borderlands 3;
10. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege.

Source:

• Wargaming.com

Source: 3dnews.ru