Fortnite console revenues dip in January 2020, drop segment earnings
Fortnite revenues dip on the game's most lucrative platform, causing substantial slide in digital F2P console earnings.
On the heels of Fortnite's big season 2 reveal, analyst firm SuperData notes a marked drop in digital revenues through January 2020.
Still a titan of the industry with $1.8 billion earned in 2019, Epic's battle royale sensation Fortnite kicked off 2020 with reduced revenues. The weight of Fortnite's earnings slide has pulled down the entire free-to-play console segment by 42%, analyst firm SuperData notes.
"Console spending was down a steep 42% in the free-to-play segment (due to lower Fortnite revenue) and down 19% in the premium space," the firm wrote in its recent January 2020 worldwide spending analysis.
This earnings dip continues a trend loosely hinted by Microsoft throughout 2019. In its Xbox earnings report, the company cited losses of platform revenue due to the absence of a big third-party title, which was likely Red Dead Redemption 2, as well as a reduction in the F2P sector.
It's possible that Fortnite's popularity is waning--at least on the Xbox console platform.
Fortnite's big season 2 update should boost earnings for a while, at least temporarily. It's worth noting the game's earnings are in flux and shift depending on the AAA games market, but on a whole the BR delivers consistent revenues that help drive both the PlayStation and Xbox Stores.
A 13% mobile earnings spike helped offset this drop in the F2P segment, and all-told the global digital games market pulled in $9.4 billion in January 2020, up 3% year-over-year.
The arrival of Activision's upcoming free-to-play Call of Duty Warzone battle royale game could massively catalyze console F2P earnings throughout the year, but the mode isn't expected to arrive until March.

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