When it comes to free-to-play multiplayer games, few platforms can match the sheer scale of Roblox. In 2025, players spent over 10 billion hours per month on Roblox—more than on Steam, PlayStation, and Fortnite combined. One standout title, 99 Nights in the Forest, drew a staggering 14.2 million concurrent players at its peak, a number that puts even the biggest AAA games to shame. Its creators, Grandma's Favourite Games, based in New Zealand, built the game on a foundation of nostalgia and community. Let's dive into the story behind this phenomenon and what makes Roblox such a unique gaming ecosystem.
What exactly is 99 Nights in the Forest, and how massive is its player count?
99 Nights in the Forest is a survival-crafting game hosted on Roblox, where players gather resources, build shelters, and fend off dangers in a wooded environment. Its popularity exploded in 2025, peaking at 14.2 million concurrent players. To put that in perspective, that's roughly 2.7 times the entire population of New Zealand, where the development team is based. For context, most multiplayer games—even blockbusters like Fortnite or Call of Duty—rarely see concurrent numbers above a few million. The fact that a single Roblox experience can attract such a massive audience highlights the platform's unique ability to host behemoth playerbases that other developers can only dream of.
Who created this game, and what inspired them?
The game was developed by Grandma's Favourite Games, a small studio led by Alec Kieft, known online as Cracky4. Kieft grew up playing Flash games but switched to Roblox specifically for its multiplayer capabilities. Interestingly, his first exposure to Roblox came from a well-meaning math teacher who thought the platform might be educational. “There were not a lot of experiences on Roblox that you could argue were learning experiences,” Kieft recalls. “They were mostly zombie shooters.” Despite the teacher's hopes, Kieft and his classmates spent math class shooting zombies—a pastime that eventually sparked his interest in game development. He later met his two co-creators for 99 Nights in the Forest through war clans, an early Roblox subculture focused on organized battles.
How did Alec Kieft get started with game development?
When you install Roblox, you automatically get both the Roblox Player and Roblox Studio icons on your desktop. This seamless transition from playing to making games is a key feature of the platform. Kieft's first project was Defenders of Roblox, which he built while learning to program. It was heavily inspired by Roblox remakes of Left 4 Dead—even though he had never played the original game. “I got to experience the sort of cruddy 2014 Roblox remakes of it, and I loved them,” he says. That early experiment taught him coding basics and ignited a passion that eventually led to 99 Nights in the Forest. For Kieft, Roblox wasn't just a game; it was an accessible game development school.
What role did Roblox play in Kieft's childhood and career?
Roblox shaped Kieft's teenage years in profound ways. Beyond just playing, he became deeply involved in war clans—groups that designed virtual bases, roleplayed as soldiers, and raided each other in organized battles. “You would roleplay as soldiers… it was a very small, contained community, but that's how I met my two co-creators,” he explains. The war clan scene taught him teamwork, map design, and community management, all of which later informed his development work. Moreover, Roblox's dual nature—as both a game and a creation tool—allowed him to transition naturally from player to creator. Today, as a professional developer, he credits those early experiences with giving him a head start in the industry.
What are some of the key subgenres and subcultures within Roblox?
Roblox has been around long enough to develop its own unique subcultures. One of the earliest was war clans, where players formed groups for simulated military operations. Over time, trends shifted. Today, popular genres include tycoon games (which aren't management sims in the traditional sense) and simulators (which also differ from mainstream sims). More recently, so-called brainrot games have emerged—a style seemingly designed to be incomprehensible to anyone over 25. Older veterans often reminisce about the “golden age” of war clans, while younger players flock to these newer, chaotic experiences. This constant evolution of genres keeps the platform fresh and ensures that different generations find their own niche within Roblox's vast library.
How does Roblox compare to other gaming platforms in terms of engagement?
In 2025, players collectively spent more than 10 billion hours per month on Roblox, which exceeds the combined monthly playtime of Steam, PlayStation, and Fortnite. This staggering statistic underscores Roblox's dominance in the free-to-play, user-generated content space. Traditional platforms rely on a handful of blockbuster titles to drive engagement, but Roblox's ecosystem of millions of experiences—each created by its community—creates a near-infinite variety of content. As Kieft puts it, “To find these behemoth playerbases you need to be on a platform like Roblox.” The low barrier to entry for both players and creators is a massive advantage, allowing games like 99 Nights in the Forest to reach audiences that would be impossible on any other platform.
What does the success of 99 Nights in the Forest say about the future of multiplayer gaming?
The extraordinary success of 99 Nights in the Forest signals a shift in where and how massive multiplayer audiences gather. While traditional screens—like the same room or a dedicated server—are still common, platforms like Roblox democratize game development and discovery. With over 14 million concurrent players, this game proves that user-generated content can rival (and even surpass) AAA titles in popularity. The future likely holds more such hits, as tools become even more accessible and communities continue to innovate. For developers like Kieft, who started as a kid playing zombie shooters in math class, the dream of building something that captivates millions is now a reality. Roblox isn't just a game platform—it's a launchpad for the next generation of gaming.