Blizzard’s card game Hearthstone and digital trading card games have impressive numbers. Card players are excellent customers – also for streamers on Twitch.
The data analysts at Superdata have created a report on digital trading card games. Among digital card games, Blizzard’s Hearthstone leads the way. The game is said to have earned 394.6 million USD in 2016. That’s four times more than the runner-up Shadowverse.
What’s interesting about the genre is that players spend real money on the card games. In the USA, 9.6% of all players on PC and Mac who engage in digital card games also spend money on them. On average, players willing to spend money pay $40.08 (37.46€) per month.
For a MOBA like League of Legends, only 7.3% spend an average of $22.50 (21€) per month. In the mobile US market, only games under the brand “Clash of Clans” exceed expenditures compared to card games. However, the conversion rate is lower there – that is, the number of those who actually pay anything.
Both genres traditionally rely on a free-to-play model – they spend money on additional digital services. Therefore, players are used to reaching into their pockets for these services – this is the traditional business model, a core part of the package, as Superdata believes.
Cashcow Hearthstone
Fans of digital card games are thus “better customers” than players of other mid-core or hardcore video games, as Superdata concludes.
Blizzard is said to earn $25 million a month with Hearthstone. In some months even $40 million.
Also interesting: 86% of digital card game players watch others play these games. This includes both well-known players on YouTube and Twitch as well as eSports tournaments. Many viewers want to learn new strategies through watching and improve their own gameplay.
This could explain why Hearthstone is so incredibly popular on Twitch.
The 5 most popular games on Twitch are almost all games from yesterday
