According to the research data analyzed and published by SafeBettingSites.com, Roblox is preparing for listing on the US stock market. The gaming giant could go public at a valuation of $8 billion early in 2021, doubling its previous valuation.
In February 2020, the California-based company completed a Series G funding round at a valuation of $4 billion. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz led the round which saw Roblox raise $150 million.
The deal comes as no surprise as in the latter part of 2020, a number of gaming companies have turned to public markets. According to a report published by InvestGame, during the first three quarters of 2020, the gaming industry got an estimated $20.5 billion in investments.
These included IPOs, private investments and mergers and acquisitions (M&As). From the total amount, public offerings contributed around $6.051 billion. There was minimal activity between January and May, but starting in June, the situation improved.
Kakao games raised $330 million in September while Archosaur Games raised $280 million. On September 18, gaming platform Unity Software raised $1.3 billion at a valuation of $13.6 billion.
In addition to Roblox, other gaming companies planning IPOs include Krafton Playtika, Applovin, People CAN Fly, tinyBuild and Huuuge.
Roblox Game Adopt Me! Draws over 10 Billion Visits in H1 2020
Roblox is a hub where developers can create online games. A majority of the popular games running on the platform are free. They monetize when players purchase in-game items using a native virtual currency. In addition to the developer hub, it also offers a social platform and draws in gamers looking for some entertainment.
Prior to the pandemic, some of its popular games averaged over 10 million monthly users. In February, more than 10 Roblox listed games had over 1 billion visits. Due to the spike in popularity of video gaming during the pandemic, the milestones have shot up significantly.
For instance, during H1 2020, the game Adopt Me! reached a peak of 1.615 million concurrent users as well as over 10 billion visits. Piggy, a game that launched in January 2020 had over 5,000 plays at the end of July 2020.
As a result of the tremendous success, developers on Roblox are set to earn $250 million in revenue in 2020. Considering that in 2019 they earned a collective $110 million, that will be a 127% year-on-year (YoY) increase.
There are more than 345,000 developers creating content and earning on Roblox. The number of monthly active users (MAUs) is also on the rise. In February, it had 115 million MAUs, rising to 164 million by July 2020 according to RTrack.
Players Spend Nearly $103 Million on Roblox in May 2020
In terms of player spending, the data published by Sensor Tower shows a consistent increase between February and May 2020. Players spent $54.6 million in February, rising to $69.8 million in March and $93.2 million in April. In May, the figure rose to $102.9 million, marking the biggest month on record.
Lifetime player spending on the Roblox mobile app crossed the $1.5 billion milestone towards the end of June 2020. At the height of the global pandemic, revenue surged in double digits, 28% month-over-month in March and 34% in April.
Most of the revenue, almost $1.2 billion, came from the Apple App Store. It accounted for 75.4% of all lifetime player spending at the end of June 2020. Google Play Store accounted for the remaining 24.6%, which was at $389.2 million.
Players using iPad were the top spenders, accounting for 39.4% of the total lifetime revenue or $623.8 million.
At the time, the Roblox app had accumulated nearly 383 million downloads across the two app stores. Google Play had the dominant role in this regard with 287 million downloads, 75% of the total. On the other hand, the App Store had 96 million downloads, 25% of the total. On average, each download raked in $4.10 in revenue globally.
The US was the apps’ top market with 104.6 million downloads, accounting for 27.3% of the total. Brazil took the second place with 10.7% of the global share while Russia was third with 5.4%.
According to App Annie, Roblox ranked second in terms of consumer spend globally in Q2 2020. Its games had the highest quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) growth in the adventure category in that period. In Q3 2020, it has the 4th highest grossing game globally on both the App Store and Play Store according to Sensor Tower.
Overall, there was a remarkable spike in video game consumption in the US during Q2 2020. According to the NPD Group, consumers spent $11.6 billion, marking a 30% increase YoY. Compared to the Q1 2020 record of $10.9 billion, that was a 7% increase.
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Nica San Juan