AAA games to earn record-breaking $19 billion in 2020

Massively anticipated games like Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and even Animal Crossing: New Horizons will propel 2020's premium gaming spend to record levels.

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Next-gen consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and a slew of big games will drive 2020's gaming revenues to new heights, especially in the AAA games segment. Analyst firm SuperData predicts premium titles will deliver a record-breaking $19.8 billion in 2020, accounting for roughly 15.8% of the total estimated yearly earnings forecast.

"Premium games will have their biggest year ever with $19.8 billion in revenue thanks to major releases in the first half of the year. Highly anticipated games like Cyberpunk 2077, The Last of Us Part II and Animal Crossing: New Horizons will launch before focus shifts to next-generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony," SuperData writes in its latest yearly report.

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Consoles are forecast to make the lion's share of 2020 game sales thanks to next-gen systems. Premium console games may deliver $14.5 billion on consoles, whereas PC is expected to rake in $5.3 billion.

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Remember these numbers are based on the games we know about.

There's tons of more projects that have yet to be announced for next-gen consoles, including Sony's own PlayStation 5 launch games, and a slew of third-party titles. New games from Ubisoft like the rumored Viking-themed Assassin's Creed could propel next-gen software to massive heights.

Backward compatibility will also play a huge part in game sales and adoption in 2020. Both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are backward compatible with current-gen games, meaning new adopters will double-dip on cross-gen games while existing console owners will buy forward into the new generation.