Player spending on strategy games in the US hit $2.8 billion in the first 10 months of 2020, according to Sensor Tower.
The impressive revenue represents a growth of 21.7 per cent year-on-year. Furthermore, the top-grossing strategy title proved to be Supercell’s Clash of clans which generated $262 million. To date, the game has grossed more than $7 billion.
Meanwhile, 4X strategy subgenre members Rise of Kingdoms by Lilith Games and Warner Bros Game of Thrones: Conquest were the second and third top-earning titles.
Talking strategy
However, on the downloads front, the strategy genre saw a decline of 5.8 per cent year-on-year, as it generated 113 million installs in 10 months. Moreover, 4X strategy title State of Survival by FunPlus proved to be the most popular with 6.3 million installs.
Meanwhile, the second and third most downloaded strategy titles are Top Games’ Ebony: The King’s Return and Clash of Clans.
Not only has State of Survival performed well in the strategy category, but it has also been a driving force in the rise of post-apocalyptic-based games, which generated $384 million between January and September.
Strategic play
When looking at strategy subgenres, 4X was the most lucrative as it was responsible for $1.9 billion, a rise of 34 per cent year-on-year. Furthermore, the category also accumulated the most downloads with 44.2 million.
However, the fastest-growing subgenre for revenue was tower defence, which grew 131 per cent year-over-year to $63.7 million. It includes titles such as YoStar’s Arknights and Ninja Kiwi’s Bloons TD 6.
Meanwhile, the subgenre with the most significant download growth was the card battler with 11 million installs, an increase of 5.9 per cent year-on-year. It includes games like Konami’s Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links and 2K’s WWE SuperCard.
