24 million concurrent players is the kind of number every AAA game dreams of. Over the weekend, one game actually hit that, but you probably haven’t even heard of it

I feel like by now, everyone gets why Roblox is so popular. It’s a platform where you can create your own games. Mix that with a free-to-play setup, low system requirements, and the fact that you can play it pretty much anywhere (even on your phone), and it’s easy to see why it’s such a hit, especially with kids and teens. What’s crazy, though, is that even with all that, the number of players online at the same time can still be absolutely mind blowing.

Is this a cultural phenomenon or are we just all doomed?

Even though Roblox has been under a lot of heat lately, the lawsuit, the whole YouTuber Schlep drama, and even rumors about it shutting down in early September, it’s still going strong. Every now and then, a new hit game pops up. Grow a Garden has been dominating for a while, Dress to Impress has been a long-time favorite, but recently, something else has blown up so much that every game studio would probably dream of having that kind of success.

Steal a Brainrot, made by SpyderSammy and published by DoBig Studios, was released in May. And yes, you guessed it, it’s related to the “Italian Brainrot” trend that’s literally everywhere right now. From mascots and coloring books to, of course, Roblox, you can’t escape it.

Steal a Brainrot recently hit over 24 million (yes, million, not thousand) players online at the same time. That truly is an insane number, so let’s put it in perspective with a few other titles:

1. Silksong by Team Cherry peaked at just over 580,000 concurrent players on Steam. Console numbers aren’t public, but still, I’m sure nowhere near 24 million.
2. Borderlands 4, which just came out last week, had around 300,000 concurrent players on Steam. Add consoles, but still, no eight-digit numbers there.
3. Assassin’s Creed: Shadows barely cracked 60,000 on Steam.

I could keep going like this forever. And I know that comparing a Roblox game to titles like Silksong should be considered a crime. But the numbers for Steal a Brainrot are just unbelievable.

Of course, we could argue that Roblox as a platform is a greedy, cash-grabbing monster – the kind of gaming culture we wish our kids didn’t normalize, but even there, some games might be genuinely good and definitely wildly popular. I’m not sure any game will ever top that number, maybe GTA VI will one day outdo Steal a Brainrot.

Roblox

August 27, 2006

Rate It!

• Overview

• sandbox
• memes
• Roblox Corporation