The League of Legends revenue stream has reportedly broken past its year-end projection, doing so in November with another month to go.
In October, research firm SuperData stated that League of Legends is primed to bring in nearly $1.7 billion for the duration of 2016. Today, a year-end report from the firm on the Digital Games and Interactive Media Market confirms the game to have already hit the estimated numbers last month. Riot Games is now left with December before the official books are closed.
As such, League of Legends once again dominated the free-to-play market in 2016 and is still crowned king. The closest competition to Riot Games is still around $600 million away.
Top grossing free-to-play PC games of 2016 (January-November):
- League of Legends: $1.7 billion
- Dungeon Fighter Challenge: $1.1 billion
- Crossfire: $1.1 billion
- World of Tanks: $0.4 billion
- Dota 2: $0.2 billion
According to the research firm, the monstrous League of Legends revenue figures were driven by huge spending in Asian markets. The game not only led the free-to-play market but was also one of the top grossing games of the year.
Blizzard’s Overwatch, released earlier this year to the tune of being a League of Legends killer, generated $585.6 million. Despite its successful premium retail launch, the team-based shooter still has ways to go before it can start hammering the Rift.
There’s real irony to find when the most popular free-to-play game on the planet hits the $2 billion year-end revenue threshold. That is an epic moment that we’ll likely to see come about in the next two years. Who knows, from the way Riot Games is looking to enhance its esports boundaries for 2017, we just might see the year-end projections raised higher.
League of Legends boasts over 100 million active players every month from around the globe, an impressive increment from 94 million in 2015. We’re likely going to see the player-base keep increasing into the next year.
VIA PVP Live
