Fortnite becomes biggest free-to-play game ever while Far Cry 5 shifts 2.5m digital units in March

Fortnite has finally taken over the digital charts, taking the top spot in the global console listings in March, SuperData reported. Epic’s battle royale title has also broken PUBG record in terms of revenue generated and monthly active users across all platforms, becoming the biggest free-to-play console title of all time. On PC, it also had the highest conversion rate of any free-to-play title in March.

Fortnite generated $223m (£162m) in revenue across all platforms last month, up 73 per cent compared to February. “Drake, a new season of the Battle Pass, and a John Wick skin all contributed to the massive growth,” SuperData explained.

But Fortnite was not the only digital title to shine in March, as Far Cry 5 sold around 2.5m copies globally across console and PC, SuperData reported, having released quite late in the month, on March 27th. Ubisoft’s title charted at No.2 on console and debuted at No.9 on PC, confirming its excellent launch performance at retail.

“On console, Far Cry 5‘s digital launch was up nearly 500% compared to Far Cry Primal two years ago,” the data firm’s monthly report said. “This points to not only the underlying health of the Far Cry series, but also to growing digital download rates for triple-A console games in 2018.”

Elsewhere in the digital charts this March, Sea of Thieves debuted at No.7 in the console listings. Rare’s pirate title had 1.7m monthly active users on console and 283,000 on PC. “However, more than half of these users obtained the game through the limited free trial offered as part of Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass,” SuperData said. “This leaves some unanswered questions concerning the long-term success of the title.”

Meanwhile on mobile, Candy Crush had its most successful month since 2014.