Roblox, a sensational entry to Wall Street
The collaborative video game platform Roblox made a sensational debut on the Wall Street Stock Exchange, reaching a market capitalization of $ 46 billion at the close in New York on March 10, 2021. REUTERS - BRENDAN MCDERMID
Text by: Alexis Bedu Follow
3 min
The video game does not know the crisis!
For a year, the sector has been success stories.
The lockdowns and curfews have allowed some companies to break sales records.
This is the case of the collaborative video game platform Roblox which went public on Wall Street on Wednesday March 10, reaching a capitalization of $ 46 billion at the close.
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A particularly noticed entry on New York Market Exchange.
Roblox stock closed its first day on the stock market up 54%.
"
It's stratospheric, there is a real craze for Roblox,
" comments Yohann Bensemoun, host at jeux-vidéo.com.
By comparison, Minecraft, another community gaming giant, was acquired by Microsoft for $ 2.5 billion in 2014.
Both social network and video game
In one year, the Roblox platform has seen an explosion in the number of its users, now claiming nearly 33 million daily players.
With an ingenious concept: it hosts games directly designed by its users.
“
When it was created in 2006, it was an edutainment project, and very quickly, it drifted.
Today it is a universe that is both a social network and a content creator
, explains Yohann Bensemoun,
it is a platform for creating and sharing experiences, more than just a video game
”.
As YouTube does with its YouTubers, the company remunerates certain creators via an electronic money, the robux, convertible into cash.
It donated the equivalent of $ 250 million to its player-creators last year.
A strong community of players
The monetization of games makes it possible to generate money.
“
They are also very good at attracting advertisers.
There are collaborations, virtual concerts… When a "Star Wars" movie comes out, there are bound to be events in Roblox.
"
This allows it to constantly renew itself and to build a solid community in the process.
Not to mention the impressive fundraising: At the end of January, Roblox announced a new fundraising valuing it at $ 29.5 billion.
“
It's a very well-oiled machine that generates money, but which also has significant operating costs
,” says Yohann Bensemoun.
The company indeed incurs significant expenses for its IT infrastructure.
“
It's a gourmet experience in network infrastructures, servers and development.
It is almost a mini-internet which therefore requires a lot of resources
”.
Roblox has also developed many tools, for example allowing certain teachers to run lessons for their students on the platform.
This has proven to be particularly useful and lucrative in times of lockdown, with children aged 7 to 12 being Roblox's primary target.
As a result, Roblox's revenue jumped 82% last year.
“
It was an exceptional year for all video games
, decrypts Yohann Bensemoun,
everyone took refuge in relaxing video-game works like“ Animal Crossing ”or collaborative games to meet up with friends
.
In this dynamic, Roblox is now an example to follow.
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