Video game platform Roblox to make Wall Street debut

Gaming platform Roblox – which has skyrocketed in popularity among kids and teens during the coronavirus pandemic – will make its Wall Street debut Wednesday as a direct listing.

The company’s shares will be listed under the symbol RBLX on the New York Stock Exchange.

By opting to go public as a direct listing, like companies such as Spotify, Slack and Palantir have done, Roblox will not be able to issue new shares on the exchange and therefore will not raise capital.

Instead existing shareholders – such as founders, employees and initial investors – will be able to sell their portions on the market.

The company plans to sell nearly 199 million shares.

The NYSE set a reference price of US$45 per share on Tuesday, though the real price will depend on demand.

Roblox was valued at US$29.5 billion at a fundraising round in late January.

The platform allows users to create their own video games and gives them a share of related revenue.

It counted close to 33 million daily players in 2020, and revenue soared 82% to US$924 million.

But the company is not currently profitable, due to the expenses it incurs on tech infrastructure, data protection and paying game developers.