It turns out Roblox kiddos are spending most of their cash on FPS skins Call of Duty-style, and I feel strangely proud

While headlines last year highlighted the massive success of games like Steal a Brainrot and Grow a Garden - Roblox "experiences" I refuse to believe are entirely populated by real human players - there's ample evidence to suggest, and I say this with a massive sigh of relief, that a good portion of the Roblox audience is spending silly money on gun skins like they would in Call of Duty, Counter-Strike, or any other one of the best FPS games in recent memory. Yes, they're not all entirely entranced by sharks wearing sneakers and a bipedal cappuccino - not to throw shade at Cuphead, of course. It's a success story that might just soothe the souls of those convinced today's upcoming generation of gamers might scoff at any game that doesn't have Cristiano Ronaldo shoehorned into it.

As it turns out, Roblox kids are actually keeping an old PC tradition alive. In a couple of ways, no less. Not only are they transfixed by a tight FPS title, but they're apparently spending a good bit of money on skins, too. I'm not too proud of that last one, but with roots in the most iconic shooter name around, I can't complain.

Yes, despite millions clamoring to watch Bruno Mars perform amongst a conveyor belt of brainrot characters likely birthed by Skibidi Toilet, hundreds of thousands are still cramming into Rivals - a fast-paced Roblox first-person shooter game. I've staked my claim there, by which I mean that some child (I assume) once asked how I got so good at it after humiliating them in a rapid 10-0 matchup despite it literally being the first round I ever played. Get a mouse, kid. I'm actual trash.

You only need to load up the Roblox PC client to see Rivals standing atop the highest revenue chart. Now, that doesn't mean it's the top-grossing game on the entire Roblox platform. The results are tailored to your device. With mobile being the biggest platform of choice for the Roblox kiddies, Steal a Brainrot is the undisputed king of emptying the bank accounts of parents that really should be teaching their youngsters the value of a Robux. And yes, the fact that 'Robuck' isn't a proper singular version of Robux is genuinely infuriating me right now.

Anyway, sandwiched between Steal a Brainrot and, I kid you not, Escape Tsunami for Brainrots? Rivals. Yes, it's in second place - even on mobile. And in a fun little twist, its icon even has it aiming a sniper at the reigning king. Get 'em, bright-red faceless Roblox guy!

Now, this is a reach, but please bear with me. With Battlefield managing to outsell Call of Duty last year, I can't help but wonder if some similar bucking of the trend is reflected in Roblox, too. There's always the never-ending debate of graphics versus gameplay on any platform, and we're constantly finding outliers to each argument. But on Roblox, gameplay clearly remains at the top of the pecking order.

Just two years ago, Frontlines - a very Call of Duty and Battlefield-inspired Roblox game with top-tier visuals - was featured in Forbes and caught the attention of prominent FPS YouTuber Jack 'JackFrags' Mason. Though it's closing in on 200 million sessions, with only 700 players online right now, it'll take a while to reach that milestone. Rivals - a fast-paced arena-style shooter that's closer to Counter-Strike than Call of Duty - has close to 400,000 players online at the same time. Its lifetime stats? 10.8 billion sessions. Billion. It even turned that milestone into a skin.

So, with Roblox Rivals revenue through the roof, is it safe to say that the Roblox generation still enjoys shelling out cash for keys to crates containing skins? It would appear so. Again, I'm not entirely sure that's something to be proud of, but I'd much rather my kid think a golden desert eagle is a better status symbol than a diamond-encrusted Chimpanzini Bananini. Not that I've ever personally spent cash on a skin outside of Fortnite. Wait…