Roblox’s plans to go public

When a company plans to go public, meaning it files to publicly trade on the stock market, it can either apply for a direct listing or an IPO – known as an initial public offering. These options provide a company the opportunity to raise funding, and allow investors a chance to profit off a company’s future successes.

Some examples of the most famous IPOs include companies you may recognize, such as Alibaba, Facebook and Uber. E-commerce, social media and ridesharing technologies have become staples of the economy, but where does Roblox fit into this?

For the uninformed, Roblox has operated since 2006 as an online gaming platform where millions can join together to participate in a variety of minigames. The popular online game has drawn comparisons to Minecraft and other “blocky” games, yet has grown to separate itself from the label and see widespread success. 

In any given month, Roblox sees as many as 150 million active users, and has seen this number increase each year. Roblox is available in eight languages and has made efforts to expand even more, targeting different countries as the years go on. 

Roblox has made over $600 million in 2020, having enjoyed large revenue growth due to the pandemic. This figure has increased every year, with revenues having doubled since 2018. 

With plans to take itself public, you have to wonder what Roblox has planned. What could this funding add to the already booming online presence Roblox holds in the gaming industry? 

Well, recently Roblox has gone so far as to follow in the footsteps of video gaming giant, Fortnite, and hosted its own in-game concert. Just as Fortnite has recruited musicians over the past few months to perform in-game, Roblox saw the opportunity and snagged Lil Nas X.

The move has been fairly successful for Roblox so far, which saw hundreds of thousands of users join the concert. Many of which may not have hopped on the game had it not been for the draw of Lil Nas X. Going forward, it may be possible that Roblox has even more concerts planned, especially considering the weight of the pandemic. 

News surrounding Roblox’s pending listing has been relatively scarce, but as the date draws closer, hype will certainly come. Roblox will list on the New York Stock Exchange, yet it is unclear what price its shares will trade at. 

Nobody knows where Roblox may end up in the future, but it has done a great job of remaining successful in an overly saturated market so far. If Wall Street sees potential in Roblox, there may be an even brighter future for the block game, something beyond its simple parkour games and murder mysteries. 

If the country continues to struggle with COVID-19, who knows how many concerts may come to Roblox? If you missed out on Lil Nas X, don’t worry, there’ll almost certainly be more down the line. So go make that Roblox account and see what all the hype is about.