Uncharted 4 made $56M in digital revenues from downloads and microtransactions in May

The millions of PlayStation 4 owners worldwide turned one of Sony’s biggest franchises into a huge digital success last month.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (read GamesBeat’s review) generated $56 million from downloads and microtransactions in May, according to intelligence firm SuperData Research. That was enough to make it the top grossing console game for the month despite only appearing on a single platform. It beat out Call of Duty: Black Ops III, which has sat atop this list for months. Uncharted 4 debuted May 10 for $60, but it also features in-app purchases for unlocking content in its online multiplayer mode. That business model — where publishers charge an upfront price and include other microtransactions — increases the average lifetime value of consumers, and it is one of the strategies fueling the $99.6 billion gaming industry.