FIFA 16 marks its first month in the top 20, while Star Wars: The Old Republic, Warframe, and The Witcher 3 all posted big gains. Overall monthly playtime was up 1.86% versus September.
Highlights
The top three games in October’s Most Played all rose in play time from the previous month, with League of Legends up 9.93%, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive climbing a modest half a percent, and DOTA 2 gaining 15.57%. World of Warcraft dropped into the fourth spot thanks to a loss of 8.62%, and with the WoW movie and next expansion not expected until mid- and late-2016 respectively, that trend is likely to continue.
Diablo III dropped three spots in October after enjoying a big boost from Season 4 the previous month. Monthly play time fell a massive 53.58%, returning to August levels.
Though World of Tanks monthly gameplay dropped 7.7%, the game still slipped into the top 5 at the expense of Diablo.
October was the month of expansions and updates, as Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns (October 23rd), Star Wars: The Old Republic’s Knights of the Fallen Empire (October 27th), The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone (October 13th), and Warframe’s plentiful updates all contributed to higher play times for these four games.
Guild Wars 2 rose by 10.87%, moving it up one spot in the rankings to 12th. Star Wars went up by 44.48% as pre-purchasers were granted early access to the expansion a week before the full release. Warframe’s trio of updates contributed to a six-rank climb and 24.77% monthly play-time boost. Finally, The Witcher 3 rose four ranks with a 16.99% increase thanks in large part to its expansion.
FIFA 16 was released in late September, so October was its first full month on sale. Based on past FIFA performance, it may stick around for a while.
Finally, Final Fantasy XIV Online dropped five spots and 24.31% of monthly game time. Players have complained about a lack of end-game content in the latest Heavensward expansion, which may be a factor.
PREVIOUS SIX MONTHS’ MOST PLAYED LISTS
September 2015