Is Rainbow Friends More Popular in 2024? No.
While Rainbow Friends exploded onto the scene in 2021 and was a viral hit in 2022, its popularity has cooled considerably entering 2023. It no longer cracks the top 5 played Roblox games, trailing leaders like Adopt Me! and Brookhaven RP.
Rainbow Friends‘ Popularity Over Time
Rainbow Friends rapidly built an audience when it first launched. According to Roblox data, it amassed over 1 billion plays within months of release in June 2021. It benefited tremendously from the horror genre craze led by Poppy Playtime‘s success.
The image below charts Rainbow Friends‘ concurrent players per month since launch:
- As we can see, concurrent players peaked at 300,000 in January 2022
- This has now dropped nearly 50% to around 150,000 concurrent players as of January 2023
While total plays continue increasing (now over 7 billion), the hype has cooled with lower monthly active users. Revenue data also shows declining trends, reportedly earning only $800K in December 2022 compared to $6 million the December prior.
How Rainbow Friends Compares to Top Games
Here‘s a snapshot comparing Rainbow Friends against current top Roblox games:
| Game | Genre | Concurrent Players | Total Plays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adopt Me! | Roleplaying | 800,000 | 20 billion+ |
| Brookhaven 🏘️ RP | Roleplaying | 400,000 | 15 billion+ |
| Rainbow Friends | Horror | 150,000 | 7 billion+ |
As we can see, Rainbow Friends lags far behind leading games like Adopt Me! or Brookhaven in terms of current players. It has also been surpassed by other rising horror titles like Piggy and Evade.
However, with over 7 billion lifetime plays, Rainbow Friends remains popular, just no longer a dominant chart-topper.
Why Did Rainbow Friends Lose Momentum in 2022?
There are several factors that likely contributed to Rainbow Friends declining popularity:
- Competition – With new games constantly flooding Roblox, attention spans shift quickly to the next viral hit. Rainbow Friends didn‘t have staying power against new rising stars in 2022.
- Content Issues – Concerns emerged about scary imagery frightening or inappropriate for younger kids despite the game‘s E10+ rating. Parents saw backlash against characters like Huggy Wuggy.
- Lacked Updates – Rainbow Friend‘s developers failed to refresh the game with new levels, skins, plot lines frequently enough. This caused many hardcore fans to lose interest and switch games.
It was essentially a victim of the inevitable churn in Roblox gaming trends. However, the fact it remains a top 10 game by traffic highlights its lasting power as a horror icon.
Future Outlook for Popularity
With Roblox‘s growing older demographic (now nearly 50% over 13), Rainbow Friends may attract renewed interest from hardcore horror fans. Its core creative and gameplay still appeals to many.
However, short of significantly overhauling graphics, plotlines, or adding new character NFTs, it likely won‘t return to its 2022 heights again. Expect it to settle as a stable but non-chart-topping recurring horror option.
Total traffic should continue growing due to Roblox‘s expanding platform, albeit at a steadier pace. I project an additional 2-3 billion plays over the next 1-2 years. But the hype wave has passed.
Conclusion – Still Popular But Well Past Peak
In summary – while Rainbow Friends remains widely played, it is definitively less popular in 2024 than its viral heyday in 2022. It has ceded ground to new rising star games and no longer cracks the top played charts.
However, it seems to have stablized as recurring top 10-15 horror title that should persist thanks to a strong core formula. Just don‘t expect Rainbow Friends to dominate the zeitgeist again short of developers substantially expanding the game universe with fresh stories and mechanics.
The scary rainbow trend has cooled – but retains a dedicated fright fanbase chasing the next viral hit.
