Millions Flock To Grow Virtual Gardens In Viral Roblox Game (apnews.com)
(Friday August 08, 2025 @11:30PM (BeauHD)
from the chill-escape dept.)
- Reference: 0178618236
- News link: https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/08/08/2140221/millions-flock-to-grow-virtual-gardens-in-viral-roblox-game
- Source link: https://apnews.com/article/roblox-game-grow-garden-trend-2f5e4368448d57002d08b1b3d4a289ca
[1]Grow a Garden , a Roblox game created by a 16-year-old in just a few days, has shattered records for the [2]most concurrent players in gaming history , surpassing Fortnite with over 21.6 million concurrent players at once. The Associated Press reports:
> Grow a Garden is as simple as its name suggests -- players can fill a plot of land with plants and animals, harvest and sell, trade or steal each others' bounty. The game is low stress, with an aesthetic reminiscent of Minecraft and a soundtrack of soothing classical tunes such as Mozart's Rondo Alla Turca playing in the background. Its popularity has further cemented Roblox' place not just in the gaming world but in popular culture -- for better or for worse, it's where the kids hang out.
>
> Coincidence or not, Grow a Garden soared to popularity around the same time that Take-Two Interactive announced it would delay the launch of its wildly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 until next year. In late June, the gardening game logged 21.6 million concurrent players, surpassing Fortnite's previous record of 15.2 million according to Roblox. Analysts who follow Roblox's stock say Grow a Garden is helping boost the company's revenue and will push the company's quarterly earnings numbers above Wall Street's expectations.
>
> While it's not clear if the GTA audience flocked to this simple gardening game to pass the time until then, the timing reignited the age-old debate about who gamers are and what titles are taken seriously by the video game establishment. It happened with Candy Crush, with puzzle games, with Animal Crossing. Are people who play cozy games true gamers? Or is the title reserved for the folks who shoot enemies in Call of Duty or drive around creating mayhem in GTA?
[1] https://www.roblox.com/games/126884695634066/Grow-a-Garden
[2] https://apnews.com/article/roblox-game-grow-garden-trend-2f5e4368448d57002d08b1b3d4a289ca
> Grow a Garden is as simple as its name suggests -- players can fill a plot of land with plants and animals, harvest and sell, trade or steal each others' bounty. The game is low stress, with an aesthetic reminiscent of Minecraft and a soundtrack of soothing classical tunes such as Mozart's Rondo Alla Turca playing in the background. Its popularity has further cemented Roblox' place not just in the gaming world but in popular culture -- for better or for worse, it's where the kids hang out.
>
> Coincidence or not, Grow a Garden soared to popularity around the same time that Take-Two Interactive announced it would delay the launch of its wildly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 until next year. In late June, the gardening game logged 21.6 million concurrent players, surpassing Fortnite's previous record of 15.2 million according to Roblox. Analysts who follow Roblox's stock say Grow a Garden is helping boost the company's revenue and will push the company's quarterly earnings numbers above Wall Street's expectations.
>
> While it's not clear if the GTA audience flocked to this simple gardening game to pass the time until then, the timing reignited the age-old debate about who gamers are and what titles are taken seriously by the video game establishment. It happened with Candy Crush, with puzzle games, with Animal Crossing. Are people who play cozy games true gamers? Or is the title reserved for the folks who shoot enemies in Call of Duty or drive around creating mayhem in GTA?
[1] https://www.roblox.com/games/126884695634066/Grow-a-Garden
[2] https://apnews.com/article/roblox-game-grow-garden-trend-2f5e4368448d57002d08b1b3d4a289ca
They didn't (Score:4, Insightful)
by Luthair ( 847766 )
the venn diagram for GTA 6 and roblox are two distinct circles. For anyone who isn't familiar Roblox is pretty sleazy for monetization, I'd recommend seeking out Jeff Gerstmann's recent Youtube video on it.
Grow a real garden, get real prizes (Score:2)
by katz ( 36161 )
For those people who have the outdoor space to grow, or even window space, how about pouring that same time and energy into growing a real garden (or learning a language, or doing *fucking anything* else than playing games..)
Are these people "true gamers"? (Score:2)
by Mr. Dollar Ton ( 5495648 )
I have no idea.
Are they dumber than chat-gpt? Yep.
Want a garden? Go buy a trowel for 10 bucks and a few planters and you can have a perfect, high-fidelity, real-life simulation of one.
Why bother with poor substitutes?
Mozart covered Brubeck? (Score:2)
Who says time travel is impossible?