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Adopt Me! (stylized in all caps) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Uplift Games (formerly known as DreamCraft) on the online game platform Roblox.[2] It was released on July 13, 2017 for Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5. The original focus of the game was a family role-play, wherein players either acted as a parent adopting a child, or a child getting adopted. As the game developed, its focus shifted to adopting and caring for virtual pets, which could also be traded with other players. Uplift Games employs roughly 40 people and earns US$60 million from the game a year, often from microtransactions.[3][4] Adopt Me! had averaged over 100,000 concurrent players in September 2022. As of November 2025, Adopt Me! had surpassed over 40.8 billion visits.

Gameplay

A player with their pet (a Wolf wearing sunglasses, originating from Christmas 2019) in their house (which in turn, also looks Christmas-y)

Adopt Me! is a pet-raising simulation that revolves around adopting and caring for various pet types that hatch from eggs.[5] Eggs can each hatch different pets. Starter eggs, given to players when they play for the first time, for example hatches only a dog or a cat. While some pets can only be purchased with Roblox’s virtual currency, Robux.[6] Pets are grouped into five classes based on rarity and cost: common, uncommon, rare, ultra-rare, and legendary. Once hatched, pets grow from their starting status as newborns, growing up into juniors, pre-teens, teens, post-teens, and eventually becoming full-grown.[7] Players are also able to trade pets with other players.[8] If a player has four fully grown pets of the same type, they can combine them to form a “Neon” pet, and four fully grown neon pets can be combined into a “Mega-Neon” pet.[7] Purchases within the game are facilitated both by Robux, and through Adopt Me!'s virtual currency, simply called “Bucks”. Bucks can be earned by fulfilling the needs of a pet, such as eating and drinking, among other methods.[9] Players can also adopt children and roleplay with other users.[10]

History

Prior to 2018, Adopt Me! was solely about adopting children, in line with several previous Roblox games with the same concept.[10] Originally, the game was a collaboration between two Roblox users who go by the usernames “Bethink” and “NewFissy”.[11][12] Adopt Me! added the feature of adoptable pets in summer of 2019, which caused the game to rapidly increase in popularity.[10] Adopt Me! had been played slightly over three billion times by December 2019.[13] During the 2020 April Fools event, Adopt Me! received an update including a pet rock, available for a limited time. This update allowed the game to achieve 680,000 active players, three times as much as the strategy action role-playing game Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, which had the most active players on Steam at the time.[13][14] In July 2020, the game had been played over ten billion times.[15] By March 2021, Adopt Me! had around 20 billion total visits.[16]

Promotional events

In May 2020, Uplift Games partnered up with Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Animation Group to promote the CGI-animated film Scoob!. As part of the event, Scooby-Doo (as a puppy) was brought into the game as a temporary pet where players could drive around in the Mystery Machine (also limited-time) and complete a task where they could help find his missing collar in-exchange for three detective-themed pet accessories. The pet, vehicle and collar were later removed from the game after the event concluded.[17]

One year later on November 18, 2021, they partnered with Universal Pictures and Illumination to promote the CGI-animated film Sing 2. For the event, players could talk to Buster Moon next to a stage to complete a task of finding different pieces across the map in-exchange for a Galaxy Explorer pet accessory helmet. The Buster Moon NPC, stage and pieces were later removed from the game after the event concluded.[18]

On June 16, 2022, they partnered again with Universal Pictures and Illumination to promote the CGI-animated film Minions: The Rise of Gru. The event allowed players to talk to Gru to adopt a Zodiac Minion Egg. To hatch the egg, players can complete various tasks eventually leading the egg hatching into a Zodiac Minion Chick.[19]

Popularity

The game averaged 160,000 concurrent players as of September 2022, making it one of the most popular and successful games on Roblox.[20] The highest number of concurrent players Adopt Me! has achieved is 1.92 million.[21] Around a third of Roblox players on the Xbox One play Adopt Me!.[22] Due to the presence of microtransactions in the game and the target demographic being young children, there have been instances of children spending large amounts of money on Adopt Me!, including one particular incident where a child from Australia spent $8,000 AUD (US$6,348.88) on the game.[23] The number of players playing Adopt Me! usually triple whenever a major update occurs, and causes platform-wide disruption on Roblox.[24]

Reception

Adopt Me! received generally positive reviews from critics. PCGamesN, in an overview of what they considered the best games on Roblox, described it as “cute”, and compared it positively to the Petz series,[25] while Screen Rant described it as one of the “most well-known RPGs“.[26] Adopt Me! received a nomination for “Favorite Video Game” at the 2023 Kids’ Choice Awards.[27]

Scams

As of 2021, the game became notorious for its rise of scammers who scam players for virtual pets. Due to the high cost of pets within the game, with some rare pets selling for up to US$300 on off-platform sites,[28][29] a large subculture of scammers have risen within Adopt Me!. As the primary user base of Adopt Me! is on average young children, who are especially susceptible to falling for scams.[30][31]

One of the most common ways in which scammers carry out their operations is through “trust trades”, in which the scammer manipulates players to trust them and trade a rare virtual item, promising to give it back.[30] The scammer either leaves the game with the victim’s item, or blocking the victim to continue scamming other users.[32]

Adopt Me! had released several new features focused on combating scams in November 2020, including the introduction of “trade licenses” that are required to be earned before one can trade pets above rare rarity. It also affected the amount of pets a player could trade, and the addition of viewable trade history and the addition of notifications to the player if the game detects a markedly unfair trade.[33]

References

  1. ^ a b Takahashi, Dean (December 9, 2019). “Roblox’s 10 biggest games of all time — each with more than a billion plays”. VentureBeat. Archived from the original on August 29, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  2. ^ Minotti, Mike (May 11, 2021). “Roblox virtual pet adoption creators start their own studio, Uplift Games”. VentureBeat. Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  3. ^ Minotti, Mike (May 11, 2021). “Roblox virtual pet adoption creators start their own studio, Uplift Games”. VentureBeat. Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  4. ^ Douthwaite, Andrew; Warneford, Matthew; Pierce, Matt (2020). “Dubit Guide to Roblox for Brands”. DocSend. Dubit Limited. p. 21. Archived from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  5. ^ O’Brien, Aidan (July 23, 2020). “How to get a Unicorn in Adopt Me”. Gamepur. Archived from the original on May 5, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  6. ^ Stevens, Barry (March 31, 2021). “‘Adopt Me’ Announce New Peacock Pet And More In New Video”. Entertainment Focus. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  7. ^ a b O’Brien, Aidan (July 23, 2020). “How to get Neon pets in Adopt Me”. Gamepur. Archived from the original on December 16, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  8. ^ Stevens, Barry (June 7, 2020). “The most popular games on Roblox episode 1, Adopt Me”. Entertainment Focus. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  9. ^ Stevens, Barry (August 3, 2020). “How to make money in Adopt Me on Roblox”. Entertainment Focus. Archived from the original on May 2, 2023. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  10. ^ a b c Jackson, Gita (August 17, 2020). “This Roblox Game You Never Heard of Is More Popular Than AAA Games on Steam”. Vice. Archived from the original on August 22, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  11. ^ Peters, Jay (July 7, 2021). “Roblox, explained”. The Verge. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  12. ^ Morton, Lauren (May 12, 2021). “Creators of popular Roblox game Adopt Me! have founded their own studio”. Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  13. ^ a b Prescott, Shaun (April 2, 2020). “This Roblox game about adopting pets had more players this week than Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord”. PC Gamer. Archived from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  14. ^ Motha, Sibonisile (April 4, 2020). “Roblox’s Adopt Me! Got More Players Than Bannerlord With A Pet Rock”. Screen Rant. Archived from the original on February 27, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  15. ^ Perez, Sarah (July 28, 2020). “Roblox jumps to over 150M monthly users, will pay out $250M to developers in 2020”. Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on July 28, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020 – via Tech Crunch.
  16. ^ Bailey, Dustin (March 2, 2021). “Adopt Me, Roblox’s most popular game, has been played 20 billion times”. PCGamesN. Archived from the original on November 25, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  17. ^ Vincent, Brittany (May 12, 2020). “How to Keep Scoob Forever in ‘Adopt Me’: Unfortunately, You Can’t”. Distractify. Archived from the original on March 7, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  18. ^ Stevens, Barry (November 21, 2021). “Sing 2 Event Now Live In Adopt Me On Roblox”. Entertainment Focus. Archived from the original on February 15, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  19. ^ “Adopt Me x @Minions: The Rise of Gru! #ad […]”. Twitter. June 16, 2022. Archived from the original on July 11, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  20. ^ Sant, Sam (January 25, 2021). “What is the most popular game in Roblox (2021)”. GameRevolution. Archived from the original on February 21, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  21. ^ Williams, Haley (April 19, 2021). “A Roblox Game About Adopting Critters Just Set A New Concurrent Player Record”. GameSpot. Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  22. ^ Carless, Simon (July 23, 2020). “Analysis: Xbox Demo Fest blasts off”. Gamasutra. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  23. ^ Halls, Brady (May 20, 2020). “Six-year-old Canberra boy racks up $8000 bill on iPad without parents’ knowledge”. Nine News. Archived from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  24. ^ McGuinness, Devan (October 12, 2020). “There’s a Petition to Ban ‘Adopt Me!’ From ‘Roblox’ and It Has a Lot of Signatures”. Distractify. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  25. ^ Shepherd, Harry (August 13, 2018). “The best Roblox games”. PCGamesN. Archived from the original on November 29, 2018. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  26. ^ Smith, Abigail (December 16, 2021). “10 Best Role-Playing Games on Roblox”. Screen Rant. Valnet. Archived from the original on December 16, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  27. ^ Nordyke, Kimberly (March 4, 2023). “Wednesday, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles Among Winners at 2023 Kids’ Choice Awards”. The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 5, 2023. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  28. ^ “The Global State of Scams Report – 2022 How are countries worldwide fighting online scams?” (PDF). CNW Group.
  29. ^ Klinger-Meyers, Brady (February 20, 2024). “Top 10 Rarest Pets in Adopt Me (& How to Get Them)”. Twinfinite. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  30. ^ a b Stevens, Barry (May 26, 2020). “Some of the worst scams in Adopt Me on Roblox”. Entertainment Focus. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  31. ^ Heydecker, Will (June 4, 2020). “Roblox Adopt Me Scams: What are They, and How to Avoid Them”. The Android Soul. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  32. ^ Misbahuddin, Sameena (June 3, 2020). “Roblox: How to spot and avoid scammers in Adopt Me!”. BBC Newsround. Archived from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  33. ^ Stevens, Barry (November 5, 2020). “New ‘Adopt Me’ Update Adds Features To Help Stop Scammers”. Entertainment Focus. Archived from the original on November 15, 2020. Retrieved November 14, 2020.

See also