'Fortnite,' 'God of War' Boost Worldwide Gaming Revenue to $9B in April

God of War, a Sony-exclusive title, had the largest console-exclusive digital launch in history last month. The title sold an estimated 2.1 million digital units at launch on April 20, more than double that of the second-largest Sony-exclusive launch, 2016's Uncharted 4. God of War went on to sell more than 3 million copies in its first three days.

Overall, worldwide digital spending grew by 23 percent in April, with consumers spending more than $9 billion on digital games across console, PC and mobile, up from $7 billion in the same month last year. The biggest growth drivers came from console spend and mobile, via in-game purchases.

Meanwhile, Grand Theft Auto V, the highest-grossing game in history, saw online revenue dip 9 percent year-over-year. The Rockstar title was originally released on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles in 2013, but found new life on the current generation of consoles and through continued online play and in-game purchases.

The game's profits have declined sequentially every month since the start of the year, likely in part due to the continued rise of Fortnite as well as a dearth of significant content updates from Rockstar as the studio gears up for the October release of Red Dead Redemption 2.