Gaming a Significant Part of More Than Billion Dollars Spent in App Store Over Holidays

Customers spent $1.22 billion in the App Store, much of it on gaming, between Dec. 24 and 31, Apple reported Thursday.

This spending marked a massively successful holiday week for Apple, which tracked the increased spending between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve in 2018. The conglomerate also noted that New Year’s Day was a record-breaker as well, with “over $322 million [in spending] on New Year’s Day 2019 alone, setting a new single-day record,” according to the news release.

One of the most popular categories customers spent their holiday money in was gaming, as well as in “self-care.” Purchases went toward apps or subscription services, with much of the gaming revenue raked in by hit multiplayer games “Fortnite” and “PUBG Mobile.”

“Brawl Stars,” “Asphalt 9,” and “Monster Strike” were also noted among top-performing games for the holiday season.  “Brawl Stars” is not too surprising, as developer Supercell already dominated the mobile game market via “Clash of Clans” and “Clash Royale.”

Plus, “Brawl Stars” cleared more than $10 million worldwide (about $3 million of that from US players) during its first week of release in December, according to SensorTower.

Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior VP of worldwide marketing, commented on the holiday surge in sales.

“The App Store had a record-breaking holiday week and New Year’s Day. The holiday week was our biggest week ever with more than $1.22 billion spent on apps and games, and New Year’s Day set a new single-day record at more than $322 million,” said Schiller. “Thanks to the inspiring work of our talented developers and the support of our incredible customers around the world, the App Store finished off an outstanding 2018 and kicked off 2019 with a bang.”