These Are The Highest-Grossing Video Games In 2024 So Far
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The worldwide gaming market continues to rapidly expand, with projections that it will be worth $282.30 billion by the end of this year. “This staggering number shows just how big gaming is becoming,” says Wai-Fai Cou from U4GM, a leading online gaming marketplace. “Gaming is no longer a niche, nerdy hobby – it’s a billion-dollar industry.”
To find out exactly which games are dominating the gaming industry this year, U4GM conducted a study into the highest-grossing games of the year so far. Using analytics from gaming platform Steam, Cou and the team at U4GM calculated which games are the highest-grossing of the year so far. They ranked them by their revenue per day in three different tables according to the available data.
The Highest-Grossing Video Games of 2024 (So Far)
This data, collected using analytics from gaming platform Steam, only takes into account games released in 2024. It ranks games based on their revenue per day. As some games did not have publicly available up-to-date sales data, they were separated into three tables based on the time between release and the publishing of sales numbers. This also led to fairer results, so games with only a few days of data did not skew the rankings.
Table 1: Top 3 Best Performing Video Games of 2024 With Under A Week’s Sales Data
| Rank | Name | Release Date | Total Revenue | Global Units Sold | Revenue per Day |
| 1 | Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree | 21/06/2024 | 199,950,000 | 5,000,000 | 66,650,000 |
| 2 | Satisfactory | 11/9/2024 | 112,800,000 | 5,100,000 | 37,600,000 |
| 3 | Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection | 12/9/2024 | 1,700,000 | 38,700 | 850,000 |
What The Data Shows
The highest-grossing game of 2024 with under a week’s sales data is Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, with a revenue per day of $66,650,000 from its release on June 21st, until June 24th, when 5 million sales were announced. Shadow of the Erdtree is an expansion to the hugely popular game Elden Ring, which sold over 12 million copies in its first two weeks of release in 2022.
“This expansion to a previously released game making so much is an interesting indication of what gamers are looking for,” says Wai-Fai Cou. “This shows they’re ravenous for more of their favorite stories, which might influence developers to invest in more expansions.”
The second highest-grossing game in this category is Satisfactory, with $37,600,000. This game was only released on the 11th of September, which means it’s made a staggering amount in a short space of time. “Satisfactory allows you to build your own factories in any way you want. It really taps into people’s creativity, which is why I think it’s been so popular,” says Cou.
Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection was the game that came third in this category, with a revenue per day of $850,000. “This game really shows off what a powerful draw it is for games to use pre-existing beloved characters,” Cou comments.
Table 2: Top 10 Best Performing Video Games of 2024 With Under A Month’s Sales Data
| Rank | Name | Release Date | Total Revenue ($) | Global Units Sold | Revenue per Day ($) |
| 1 | Black Myth: Wukong | 20/08/2024 | 904,300,000 | 16,700,000 | 36,172,000 |
| 2 | Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II | 05/09/2024 | 90,200,000 | 1,600,000 | 10,022,222 |
| 3 | Zenless Zone Zero | 04/07/2024 | 112,000,000 | 348,000 | 3,612,903 |
| 4 | Ace Attorney Investigations Collection | 06/09/2024 | 1,400,000 | 39,700 | 175,000 |
| 5 | Shogun Showdown | 05/09/2024 | 1,000,000 | 116,900 | 111,111 |
| 6 | Astro Bot | 06/09/2024 | 761,873 | 12,700 | 95,234 |
| 7 | Tactical Breach Wizards | 8/20/2024 | 1,600,000 | 97,300 | 64,000 |
| 8 | Castlevania Dominus Collection | 8/27/2024 | 797,900 | 35,400 | 44,327 |
| 9 | Crypt Custodian | 8/27/2024 | 215,700 | 13,800 | 11,983 |
| 10 | Arco | 8/15/2024 | 184,500 | 11,100 | 6,150 |
What The Data Shows
For games with under a month’s sales data, Black Myth: Wukong was the highest-grossing game, with $36,172,000 per day. Developed by Chinese studio Game Science, the game is inspired by the classic novel Journey to the West and draws heavily on elements of Chinese history and culture.
“Sun Wukong is arguably one of the most popular mythical figures in Chinese culture, which is probably why it’s been popular there,” says Cou. “Interest in Chinese media has been growing in the West for the last few years, and there’s been a lot of hype around this game, which is why its sales have reached these amazing figures.”
The second highest-grossing game with under a month’s sales data is Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II, with $10,022,222. “This game is not only a sequel but is based on the Warhammer 40k IP, which has built up nearly 40 years’ worth of story and loyal fans over all different types of media,” says Cou. “Tapping into that existing audience has given this game a huge boost.”
Another live service game that’s exploded onto the gaming scene this year is Zenless Zone Zero, sitting in third place with $3,612,903 in weekly revenue. Developed by the same studio behind the gaming giant that is Genshin Impact, this latest release from Hoyoverse features the same system of microtransactions to obtain characters, known as gacha. “The popularity of ZZZ, Honkai Star Rail, and Genshin Impact, all released by Hoyoverse, and competitors like Wuthering Waves, really underscores how popular games with microtransactions have become,” says Cou.
Table 3: Top 10 Best Performing Video Games of 2024 With Over A Month’s Sales Data
| Ranking | Name | Release Date | Total Revenue ($) | Global Units Sold | Revenue per Day ($) |
| 1 | Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble | 25/06/2024 | 249,500,000 | 5,000,000 | 6,743,243 |
| 2 | Final Fantasy XIV Online: Dawntrail | 7/2/2024 | 482,000,000 | 4,390,000 | 6,513,513 |
| 3 | Final Fantasy VII Rebirth | 29/02/2024 | 209,970,000 | 3,000,000 | 3,386,613 |
| 4 | Helldivers II | 08/02/2024 | 434,600,000 | 11,800,000 | 1,984,475 |
| 5 | Swarm 2 | 07/03/2024 | 337,000,000 | 15,000,000 | 1,764,398 |
| 6 | Palworld | 19/01/2024 | 393,200,000 | 16,700,000 | 1,645,188 |
| 7 | Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD | 27/06/2024 | 71,388,100 | 1,190,000 | 903,647 |
| 8 | Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door | 23/05/2024 | 87,982,400 | 1,760,000 | 1,419,071 |
| 9 | V Rising | 08/05/2024 | 85,600,000 | 4,800,000 | 695,935 |
| 10 | Dragon’s Dogma II | 22/03/2024 | 111,600,000 | 1,700,000 | 634,091 |
What The Data Shows
Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is the highest-grossing game for games with more than a month’s sales data. This new entry in the Super Monkey Ball series has made $6,743,243 in revenue per day. “The real draw of this game is that it has both an offline and online mode, meaning you can play by yourself or with friends,” says Cou. “It also has over 300 items you can use to customize your character and a lottery system that gives players the chance to earn even more items.”
Another expansion that’s made a big profit is Final Fantasy XIV Online: Dawntrail, in second place. An expansion to Square Enix’s live service game Final Fantasy XIV, Dawntrail has brought in $15,548,387 per day in the two months or so it’s been out. “It’s also attracted a ton of new players to the game, which is perfect for a live service game,” says Cou.
The third-highest game on this table is Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, with $3,386,613. “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a remake of the original Final Fantasy VII, which is generally considered one of the most popular video games of all time. It’s unsurprising that the remake is this popular,” says Cou.
The fourth game on this list is Helldivers II, with a per-day revenue of $1,984,475. This 3rd person sci-fi shooter follows in the hallowed footsteps of classics like Halo as players fight to defend the galaxy from hostile aliens. “The tongue-in-cheek mockery of military jingoism combined with great action is what makes fans love this game,” says Cou.
General Trends
The game with the highest total revenue overall was Black Myth: Wukong. However, the game with the highest per-day revenue was Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, It’s worth noting sales figures were only publicly reported after reaching the 5 million sales milestone.
Satisfactory’s revenue per day was also higher than Black Myth: Wukong’s. Given the short time the game has been out, this might suggest that Satisfactory could overtake Wukong’s total revenue in time.
Dawntrail had the second-highest total revenue overall. The game has been out for around two months, so it could see much higher profits in the near future. Similarly, Warhammer 40,000k: Space Marine II has a much higher revenue per day than Zenless Zone Zero, despite the latter having made much more overall. ZZZ has been out for almost exactly two months longer than Space Marine, which suggests the Warhammer game could overtake its total revenue figure by the end of the year.
Wai-Fai Cou, spokesperson for U4GM, commented:
“One interesting trend to note is that most of these games are related to another popular game, IP, or developer in some way. For example, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Luigi’s Mansion 2 are both entries in the Mario series of games, arguably the most successful IP in video gaming. Other famous series like Castlevania and Ace Attorney are also represented here. This trend suggests that gamers are likely to gravitate towards IPs they already know and trust. This means it’s a real achievement when games like Black Myth: Wukong and Satisfactory, which don’t have a series to back them up, prove they’re good enough to amass huge profits.
“I think in the future, we’ll see this trend develop further, meaning games will truly have to prove themselves to their audience before they can make big profits. That’s healthy for the gaming industry, as it means a focus on the quality of a game’s design, gameplay, and story.”
