Roblox’s hit farm game spurs underground digital fruit economy

By Cecilia D’Anastasio, Bloomberg

Roblox Corp.’s 2-month-old Grow a Garden video game has quickly become one of the most-played titles in its history — and spawned a market for virtual crops and livestock that appears to violate company rules.

At a recent peak on Saturday, May 24, some 8.7 million people were playing at once, roughly the population of Switzerland, according to data from RoMonitor Stats, an independent analysis site.

Playable on any device and by almost anyone, Grow a Garden lets users plant seeds, grow crops and raise animals to ramp up the beauty of their virtual gardens. Since plants grow even when the users aren’t online, it encourages gamers to come back and see how their gardens have bloomed. Some of the seeds hold surprises.

“The idea that you could grow a normal