Anime continues to be massively popular on Roblox.
While scrolling through my LinkedIn feed, I stumbled across an interesting post from a Roblox developer I don't know.
It's pretty rare to see native Roblox developers posting to LinkedIn, so this caught my attention.
In the post, Daire Bohan shared interesting stats about a new anime-themed Roblox game that his team just released called Anime Champions Simulator.
In only four days since release, the game has skyrocketed to the 4th most-popular game on the platform in terms of concurrent users (CCUs)
Reached 82,500 CCUs on Sunday
Amassed 6.5 million visits in four days
While I've previously explored entertainment IP that fans have used to create popular Roblox games, I haven't taken a closer look at anime.
I've heard that anime is popular on Roblox. But what does that mean exactly?
Let's take a closer look at the top anime games on the platform right now.
Top 5 Roblox Anime Games
1. Blox Fruits
- 21.7 billion visits
- 14 minute avg session length
- 94% user rating
- 603K peak CCUs (this month)
What's the most popular game on Roblox right now? It's not Adopt Me, Bed Wars, or Murder Mystery 2. It's Blox Fruits, which for the past several months has been neck and neck with Brookhaven RP for the top spot. Both of these games have been averaging over 1 billion visits per month.
Blox Fruits is loosely based on the wildly popular One Piece manga and anime series, which was recently released as a live action series on Netflix. With One Piece doing so well on Netflix (it's currently the #7 most popular tv show on Netflix in the US), it's no surprise that the this related but unsanctioned game is doing well on Roblox.
Here's more from the description:
Welcome to Blox Fruits! Become a master swordsman or a powerful blox fruit user as you train to become the strongest player to ever live. You can choose to fight against tough enemies or have powerful boss battles while sailing across the ocean to find hidden secrets. 
2. Anime Champions
- 6.5 million visits
- 47 minute avg session length
- 96% user rating
- 85K peak CCUs (this month)
The same game highlighted in the above LinkedIn post, Anime Champions has burst onto the scene in an incredible way. The game's description says that it was made by the same creator as Anime Fighters Simulator, which is #4 on this list.
It seems like the developer's ability to build popular experiences within the anime genre is really strong. And we commend the team on finding a formula that works and honing it even further.
Here's more from the description:
🌸 Embark on a journey to explore the galaxy!
🥋 Collect and train formidable anime champions!
🌀 Travel through diverse planets, each brimming with secrets!
🌟 Dive into a world of infinite adventures and possibilities!
- 1.6 billion visits
- 18 minute avg session length
- 92% user rating
- 76K peak CCUs (this month)
This anime themed game offers a tower defense style experience, where players must upgrade weapons in order to protect their base from ongoing waves of enemy invaders.
A popular and well-known game style, tower defense games can work with pretty much any theme, so it's no surprise that there's a successful anime version on Roblox.
Here's what the description says:
A catastrophic event has occurred that summoned countless threats in multiple worlds... but it also brought all the heroes together, and they need your help! 😱
Can you summon the strongest heroes and save these worlds together? 👊
✨Collect powerful, unique characters to help you fight!
⚔️Lead a team of anime units to defend against waves of enemies, tower defense style!
💪Level up your units to unlock amazing abilities and build your own unique squad!
4. Anime Fighters Simulator
- 1.2 billion visits
- 59 minute avg session length
- 93% user rating
- 61K peak CCUs (this month)
According to Romonitor Stats, this experience has an average session length of 59 minutes, which is really impressive. How does the game achieve such impressive engagement? Well, it seems like it may be related to the game's simplicity. A very straightforward simulator where players can collect and upgrade characters, this is an anime game that rewards players for the time they put in grinding.
There are various incentives to keep players grinding, including special characters, power ups, and unlocking new worlds.
Here's more from the description:
🗺️ Explore, and be the first to discover a secret fighter!
👊 Collect and train the strongest fighters!
🌲 Discover new worlds, with new fighters in each one!
✨ The possibilities are endless!
5. Anime Dimensions Simulator
- 1 billion visits
- 11 minute avg session length
- 97% user rating
- 15K peak CCUs (this month)
Like many other anime style games on Roblox, this experience draws heavily on well-known characters from popular anime IP such as Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, and One Piece. Players can duel as their favorite characters (who have been re-named, but still appear like their popular inspirations) in settings that look stunning and impressive.
Considering that Roblox is free to play, it makes sense that players will flock to these games that are fun and allow them to enjoy their favorite anime series and characters in a deeper way than just watching.
When Will Official Anime IP Come to Roblox?
While it appears that all of the popular anime titles on Roblox right now are fan-made experiences, it will be interesting to see what happens when official brand-approved anime IP enters the platform.
When anime brands do come to the platform, will they be able to replicate the success of fan made games? Well, it all depends on how good the games are and how fun they are to play over and over again.
Stephen Dypiangco is the CEO of Metaverse Marcom, a strategy and consulting firm helping entertainment and sports brands enter Roblox.
Sign up for my weekly Metaverse Marcom Newsletter for more insights about Roblox: https://www.metaversemarcom.io/