World of Tanks’ average players spend three times as much as League of Legends players

Tanks: dead expensive to build a world from them. Stands to reason.

Numbers, eh? Can’t live with ‘em – the angular limbs of ‘4’ and ‘7’ in particular would make bedtime a nightmare. But they can be absolutely fascinating. Take, for instance, the average revenue per user in the PC’s top free-to-play games. Can you guess how much people tend to spend in Dota 2, compared to LoL? Or in TF2 compared to Planetside?

World of Tanks players worldwide spend more on average than in any other free-to-play game, according to Super Data Research. Their $4.51 per user is only rivaled by Team Fortress 2, in which players spend $4.36 each.

Below that, War Thunder’s $3.26 bests Planetside 2 by 40 cents per player. And not only does Dota 2 ($1.54) top chief rival League of Legends, but so does S2’s Heroes of Newerth ($1.48).

“Because it’s slightly less accessible, Dota 2 has more ‘core’ gamers as its audience,” reckon Super Data. “Which translates into 20% higher spending per user.”

It’s worth remembering, though, that Dota 2’s playerbase is rather larger than that of Heroes of Newerth – and that League of Legends continues to dwarf both of them for player numbers.

Two Asian games have breached the top 10, too. Nexon’s Combat Arms and SmileGate’s Crossfire both make more per player than any of the major MOBAs – something Super Data put down to “expertise in regular in-game offerings and ongoing specials”.

Average spend is a slightly misleading figure – the vast majority of players in any free-to-play game don’t spend a dollar if they can help it. But this certainly explains how Wargaming are opening a studio in every country.

How much do you tend to spend in free-to-play games? I’ve spent much more in The Old Republic than I have in Hearthstone, but only one of those games still makes my tummy do flips.

Cheers, Gaffers.