Just a day after going public for the first time since 2004, the Roblox Corporation, makers of the online game platform and game creation system Roblox, ended the day trading at just a little under $70 a share, which gave it a market valuation of $45 billion. To put that into context, Minecraft, which is pretty similar to Roblox, was sold to Microsoft for $2.5 billion back in 2014. Granted, it’s been 7 years since that sale. However, even if you consider inflation, that $2.5 billion still wouldn’t be worth the $45 billion that the Roblox Corporation is currently worth right now. If you want a more recent example, Microsoft “only” paid $7.5 billion to acquire ZeniMax Media.
What Is Roblox? How Did It Get So Big?
Roblox is arguably the most popular game among Gen Z. It’s essentially an even more open-source Minecraft. It allows players to create, design, and play games with each other. Sometimes, these games are entirely unique and original ideas. However, most of the time, they are complete rip-offs and clones of other titles like Pokemon, Fortnite, and so much more. On the other hand, Roblox also functions as a pseudo-social media platform. It’s where a lot of people of all ages congregate together, meetup, and hangout, and with more than 100 million users, it’s not surprising that some people are looking to milk it dry. Roblox Corporation’s value at $45 billion means that it’s worth more than Electronic Arts, Take-Two, and Ubisoft, which is just absurd when you think about it. Right now, there are only a few video game publishers and hardware makers that are worth more than the Roblox Corporation in the eyes of Wall Street. This includes big names such as Activision Blizzard, Nintendo, and Sony. Of course, we should remember that public valuations tend to change very quickly. Case in point, GameStop saw its valuation soar in January before seeing it plummet in February and now, in March, it’s moving up again. With that said, it’ll be interesting to see just how the markets will move and affect the value of Roblox in the coming days.
