Team behind one of Roblox’s biggest games starts a studio

The team behind Adopt Me! — one of the most popular games on the Roblox platform — is launching a studio called Uplift Games.

Josh Ling, director of business opportunities at Uplift Games, told Polygon that the decision to begin work as a studio “reflects that growth and our ambition to continue to provide our audience with AAA experiences within the Roblox Metaverse.”

Previously, Adopt Me!’s developers had been working in a group of companies calling itself Dreamcraft or Team Adopt Me. Uplift Games will continue to work on Adopt Me! as it develops future, unannounced titles. But the team has not announced any plans to make non-Roblox games. It will “continue to add to our portfolio of Roblox games,” Ling said.

Adopt Me!, which launched in 2017, is an online multiplayer game where players take care of pets. It’s very popular on kid-friendly Roblox, whose player base is more than half of all U.S. kids age 16 and younger. A news release from Uplift Games boasted a peak concurrent-user figure for Adopt Me! that rivals mainstream titles like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Adopt Me!’s original creators — two Roblox users going by the handles Bethink and NewFissy — said the reason they wanted to formalize their work by starting a studio is to “take good care” of employees.

“We strive to be a studio that avoids systemic industry issues, a place that talented people of all backgrounds remember fondly.” Ling added. “Founding Uplift Games has allowed us to provide excellent benefits to our 40-person strong studio of talented, diverse and amazing individuals.”

Roblox is sort of a kid-driven combination of YouTube and Steam. Development often happens via informal contract labor, meaning users create their works and offer them to others through Roblox. By working together as a studio, Adopt Me!’s makers can give their fellow developers the structure and benefits that come with a full-time job.