The company behind the free-to-play game Roblox is off to a strong start on Wall Street.
Today’s initial public offering saw the stock – which is listed as RBLX – close up nearly 55 percent to $69.50 per share on Wednesday. At one point during the day, the stock traded at nearly $75 per share. The IPO was listed at $45 per share.
Roblox is a free-to-play game on PC, smartphones, and tablets. It’s particularly popular with children. Users create their own avatars and manipulate their digital environment. The developer makes money when users purchase the game’s currency, known as Robux, which is used for purchasing in-game items. Users can also make real-world money when they sell user-generated content.
Last year, Roblox generated revenue of almost $925 million, nearly doubling its haul from 2019. It’s expecting sales in the range of $1.44 billion to $1.52 billion in 2021. The game has 32.6 million daily active users. Those numbers are predicted to grow almost 4 million this year.
However, the company is not yet profitable. It posted a loss of a quarter-billion dollars in 2020. So there remains a question as to whether the platform can translate its large, adolescent user base into a money-making machine.
The company was founded in 2004. It is headquartered in San Mateo, California. Its founders are Erik Cassel, Greg Baszucki, and David B. Baszucki.
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