Adopt Me! Release Date: The Full Story Behind Roblox's Record-Breaking Pet Sim

The Adopt Me! release date — July 13, 2017 — marks the start of one of the most remarkable success stories in Roblox history. Few games anywhere in the industry can claim more than 45 billion visits, yet this pet-raising phenomenon reached that milestone in just over nine years. Understanding the Adopt Me! release date isn't just fan trivia; it explains how a modest role-play project built by two hobbyist creators became the engine behind a studio reportedly earning around $60 million per year.

Below, we break down everything the launch date tells us: what the game looked like at release, how it exploded after pets arrived, where you can play it today, and the milestones that turned it into a platform-defining hit.

When Did Adopt Me! Come Out? The Official Release Date Explained

Adopt Me! officially launched on July 13, 2017, on Roblox, the massive online game platform and creation system. The game was developed and published by Uplift Games — the studio formerly known as DreamCraft — and began as a collaboration between two Roblox creators known in the community by the usernames "Bethink" and "NewFissy."

As of November 2026, more than nine years have passed since the Adopt Me! release date, and the game remains one of the most visited experiences on the entire platform. Here's a quick snapshot of the essentials:

That last number deserves a moment of appreciation. Forty-five billion visits puts Adopt Me! in rarefied air — not just among Roblox games, but among video games of any kind.

What Adopt Me! Looked Like at Launch

Here's something that surprises newer players: the game that launched in July 2017 didn't have pets at all. Prior to 2018, the entire experience revolved around family role-play, following a formula common to several earlier Roblox games. Players chose to act as a parent adopting a child, or as a child being adopted by another player.

That changed in the summer of 2019, when the team introduced adoptable pets — and the game's popularity skyrocketed almost overnight. The pet system became the heart of the experience:

• Egg-based hatching — pets hatch from eggs, with starter eggs (given to first-time players) producing a dog or a cat
• Five rarity tiers — common, uncommon, rare, ultra-rare, and legendary
• Growth stages — pets progress from newborn through junior, pre-teen, teen, and post-teen to full-grown
• Neon and Mega-Neon combinations — four fully grown pets of the same type merge into a Neon; four Neons merge into a Mega-Neon
• Trading — players can swap pets with one another, fueling a huge in-game economy
• Dual currencies — Robux for premium purchases and "Bucks," which are earned by caring for pets

Adopt Me! Release Date Timeline: Every Major Milestone Since Launch

Tracking the game's growth from its release date paints a vivid picture of just how fast it climbed. Here are the key moments:

One event from that timeline stands out. During the 2020 April Fools celebration, the limited-time Pet Rock update drew a staggering 680,000 active players — roughly three times the concurrent player count of Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, which held the top spot on Steam at the time. A joke pet in a free Roblox game outdrew the biggest premium game on PC that day.

Platforms and Availability: Where You Can Play Now

Since the original Adopt Me! release date, the game has expanded well beyond its desktop roots. Today, it's playable through Roblox across a wide range of devices:

The console audience is particularly significant. Platform data indicates that roughly one in three Roblox players on Xbox One plays Adopt Me! — an extraordinary share that speaks to the game's grip on younger audiences. Whether players are hatching eggs on a family PC or trading legendary pets on a next-gen console, the experience stays synchronized across devices.

The Numbers That Prove the Release Date Mattered

Nine years is an eternity in live-service gaming, yet the metrics suggest the game is healthier than ever. Since that July 2017 launch, Adopt Me! has compiled numbers most studio executives would trade their office chairs for:

A team of roughly 40 people generating $60 million a year is one of the best revenue-per-employee ratios in gaming. Just as telling: player counts typically triple whenever a major update drops, often causing platform-wide disruption across Roblox itself. Few individual games can bend an entire platform's infrastructure.

Promotional Crossover Events Since Release

Part of the game's post-launch evolution has involved high-profile movie tie-ins. These limited-time events brought branded pets, vehicles, and quests into the world:

Each event followed a familiar pattern: temporary content, a themed quest line, and removal once the promotional window closed. For players, these crossovers became collect-them-while-you-can moments — and a reason to log back in during major movie releases.

Life After Release: How Uplift Games Fought Scams

Success brought a darker problem. By 2021, the game had become notorious for scammers targeting its young player base. According to community reports, some rare pets commanded prices of up to US$300 on off-platform selling sites, creating powerful incentives for bad actors. One widely reported incident involved a child in Australia who spent A$8,000 (about US$6,348.88) on the game — a wake-up call for parents everywhere.

The most common scheme, per community reports, is the "trust trade": a scammer persuades a player to hand over a rare item with a promise to return it, then leaves the server or blocks the victim.

Uplift Games responded in November 2020 with a sweeping set of protections:

Practical tips for parents and players:

• Enable account PINs and spending limits on the Roblox platform itself
• Teach kids that any "give it back, I promise" trade is a scam, full stop
• Never buy pets through off-platform websites — those deals violate Roblox terms and frequently defraud buyers
• Treat in-game currency like real money, because somebody's real credit card usually paid for it

Reception and Lasting Legacy

Critics have been broadly positive over the years. PCGamesN, ranking the best games on Roblox, called Adopt Me! "cute" and favorably compared it to the classic Petz series, while Screen Rant listed it among the platform's most well-known RPGs. The game also earned a nomination for "Favorite Video Game" at the 2023 Kids' Choice Awards — peer recognition from the audience that matters most.

More than nine years after launch, the game continues to receive regular content updates, seasonal events, and safety improvements. You can keep up with current events and announcements on the official Adopt Me! website, which serves as the team's hub for news and community links.

The takeaway from the Adopt Me! release date story is simple: sustained updates, a dedicated team, and a feature pivot (pets!) at the right moment can transform a small Roblox project into a generational hit.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the official Adopt Me! release date?

The official Adopt Me! release date is July 13, 2017. The game launched on the Roblox platform and is playable on Windows PCs as well as Xbox and PlayStation consoles.

How old is Adopt Me! in 2026?

As of November 2026, the game is more than nine years old. Despite its age, it continues to average six-figure concurrent player counts and surpassed 45 billion total visits in October 2026.

Did Adopt Me! have pets when it launched?

No. The game originally centered on family role-play, with players adopting children or playing as adopted kids. The pet-raising system that defines the game today arrived in summer 2019 and triggered its explosive growth.

Who created Adopt Me!?

The game began as a collaboration between two Roblox creators, "Bethink" and "NewFissy." Their project grew into Uplift Games (formerly DreamCraft), a studio of roughly 40 people that now develops and operates the game full time.