Overwatch Has Generated $1B USD From In-Game Purchases Since Launch

Activision Blizzard's Overwatch has made a billion dollars through in-game purchases since the game launched in 2016.

SuperData, a Neilson-owned video game data research company, recently published its monthly Worldwide Digital Games Market analysis that revealing a global video game market revenue growth of 2% to $9.2B USD in June.

While major licenses such as League of Legends, Fortnite, or Dota 2 are among the top 10 grossing titles on PC and console, Overwatch crossed the $1B USD milestone for in-game purchases according to the report. Activision Blizzard’s FPS is the 64th game to generate this amount of money among all PC, console, and mobile games. It is also the 6th game from Activision Blizzard to cross the billion-dollar milestone. Other Activision Blizzard IP's that have achieved this feat are World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, Destiny (owned by Bungie), Candy Crush and Hearthstone.

In-Game Purchases in Overwatch

In Overwatch, there are two main in-game revenue streams: loot boxes and Overwatch League tokens.

Loot boxes are a staple for in-game purchases, whether on PC, console or mobile games. In Overwatch, those loot boxes include various prizes, such as hero skins, sprays, voice lines or in-game coins. During special events, such as the Summer Games, special loot boxes are available with limited edition prizes. Players tend to buy extra loot boxes to finally get the sought-after Torbjörn’s swimming suit or an emote of Zarya doing burpees.

The second source of in-game revenue is the Overwatch League token, an in-game currency that players use to purchase Overwatch League-branded skins. A hero skin costs around 100 tokens, or $4.99 USD. With 21 teams having each home and away skins for all 30 heroes, players would need a total of 126,000 tokens to get all outfits. Blizzard has since added new ways for players earn League Tokens without paying money by watching Overwatch League Matches and playing a newly introduced Pick 'em game.

Seasonal events and the addition of new heroes, such as Hero #31 Sigma, entice players to purchase loot boxes and Overwatch League tokens to fill their collection with the new skins, emotes, highlights intros, voice lines, and tags. Overwatch should continue to generate revenue from in-game purchases and might catch up with other major games.

Image VIA: Blizzard Entertainment