Newzoo: Roblox and Minecraft players don’t overlap much with big AAA games

Newzoo’s latest PC and console report suggests Roblox and Minecraft players mostly aren’t the same crowd buying and playing a lot of today’s big “traditional” AAA releases. The data firm says there’s a noticeable gap between those audiences, even as Roblox and Minecraft continue to sit alongside the biggest live service games in terms of what their players spend time on.

According to the latest report, Newzoo also sees this as part of a broader shift over the past decade where cutting-edge graphics matter less than they used to, at least when it comes to what ends up dominating playtime.

Newzoo director of consulting Ben Porter said Roblox’s playtime grew around 50% year over year, driven in part by viral experiences like Steal a Brainrot and Grow a Garden. When Newzoo looked at what else those players are playing, it found plenty of overlap with the usual live service giants. Newzoo cites overlap figures like Fortnite (55% overlap with Roblox players and 46% with Minecraft), GTA V (28% and 25%), and Call of Duty (26% and 22%).

Where things drop off is in the premium AAA space. Porter said Roblox players “underindex” in a lot of games the industry might label as traditional hits. Newzoo’s examples of titles that Minecraft and Roblox players are least likely to play include games like Monster Hunter Wilds, Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, Borderlands 4, Alan Wake 2, and Hogwarts Legacy (with some variation between the Minecraft and Roblox lists).

Newzoo did find a smaller pull toward games that resemble the quick, social, physics-driven vibe of popular Roblox experiences, naming Gang Beasts, Among Us, and Totally Accurate Battle Simulator.

The big takeaway: Roblox and Minecraft players aren’t necessarily “graduating” into the usual AAA lineup, at least not in large numbers right now, and that has obvious implications for where future audiences and spending might go.