The space that Dave “Builderman” Bazsucki built continues to grow as the gaming platform he co-founded, Roblox, went public today. The shares, which were indexed directly on the New York Stock Exchange this morning, closed at $69. 47, 54% above their $45 benchmark. This not only increased its market capitalization, but also increased Baszucki’s fortune by approximately $1. 4 billion, giving it an estimated net worth of $4. 2 billion.
Founded in 1998, Roblox is a gaming platform that provides young people and adolescents (and a developing population of young adults) with the team to create their own games, simulations and other virtual experiences. These creators can, in turn, earn real money when players spend the platform’s virtual currency, Robux, either for those games or for special pieces within them: more than $328 million last year. Players spent more than 30 billion hours in 2020.
“We have a massive view of the company we need to build,” says Craig Donato, Roblox’s leading advertising director. With the capital raised through the IPO, he says the company aims to rent more, continue its foreign expansion and invest in more delight. in for your audience.
Gamefam CEO Joseph Ferencz, whose company develops games exclusively on Roblox, said in an email that the IPO validates the platform’s long-term growth. “Roblox’s IPO is awakening investors, global customer logos and major entertainment corporations to the fact that Roblox, like YouTube, is now a component of the logo experience. It’s a pop culture phenomenon created to last.
Unsurprisingly, the interactive virtual platform experienced a strong expansion during the pandemic, in which the number of daily users increased by 85% and the number of hours dedicated to the platform soared by 124%. The company’s total profit for 2020 was $924 million.
As more and more people are empused, it’s hard to say whether Roblox’s expansion during an era of social esttainment and orders to stay home will continue, but Donato is optimistic. “I think there will be a very positive long term,” he says.
“And what this will do is not only drive growth, but will continue to drive the effects of our network,” he continues. “There is the effect of social media: those other people are now on a platform where friends can play; as well as the network effect of creators: we have more creators who create content that attracts more users. “
I am an editor at Forbes and care for fitness, science and complex technology.