Roblox Sales Surge as Users Flock to Videogame Platform
The growth came as more users spent more money on Roblox, primarily in the form of virtual currency, called Robux, used to buy in-game items like pets and costumes for players’ avatars.
Still, the company posted a nearly 82% wider loss in the period, its first quarterly report since it started trading publicly in March, on higher costs to support its growth and expenses tied to its direct listing.
Roblox said Monday that the results reflect strong engagement among users, most of whom are under the age of 13. The company didn’t issue a new outlook for the current quarter, but has previously warned that growth is likely to slow as social-distancing guidelines ease. It is working to attract users of older demographics and expand geographically in regions such as Western Europe and East Asia.
Roblox is attracting more users to its platform, with the number of average daily users at 42.1 million in the quarter, up 79% from last year, driven by growth outside of its core market of the U.S. and Canada. Average bookings per daily user, which represents the amount of Robux purchased, rose 46% to $15.48.
“Even for countries coming out of Covid, we have seen amazing stickiness with our daily active users and bookings,”
Dave Baszucki,
chief executive and founder of Roblox, said in an interview. “Hours per user is moving more toward historic levels, but we’re very optimistic.”
Founded in 2004, Roblox operates a free online platform on consoles, computers and mobile devices that features millions of games made by its users. The company provides game-creation tools and shares revenue with its developers from sales of the platform’s virtual currency. Players buy Robux with real money and use it to acquire perks.
San Mateo, Calif.-based Roblox said revenue rose to $387 million, up from $162 million a year ago. Bookings, which primarily represent the value of Roblox’s virtual currency, rose at a slightly higher rate to $652.3 million. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting bookings of $573 million.
The net loss widened to $134.2 million, or 46 cents a share, from $74.4 million, or 44 cents, in the year-ago quarter. That included $51.9 million in advisory, legal and other expenses tied to the direct-listing process. Analysts were projecting a loss of 22 cents a share.
Shares in Roblox rose 5% in after-hours trading.
The company has scheduled an earnings call with analysts for Tuesday morning before the markets open.
Mr. Baszucki said Roblox won’t be issuing guidance with its earnings results and instead will report monthly metrics, as well as host investor events once or twice a year.
Last week, game companies
Activision Blizzard Inc.
ATVI -1.72%
and
Zynga Inc.
ZNGA -6.01%
also reported strong results for the March-ended quarter. They expressed confidence in continued, though likely more modest, growth ahead as more economies reopen in many parts of the world.
Roblox’s public-market debut earlier this year came after the company ditched original plans for a traditional public offering in December, when
DoorDash Inc.
DASH -3.56%
and
Airbnb Inc.
ABNB -2.96%
soared beyond expectations in their initial public offerings.
The direct listing propelled it to become one of the most valuable U.S. game companies, with a market capitalization exceeding that of major game publishers such as
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.
TTWO -0.62%
and Ubisoft Entertainment SA In the U.S., Roblox’s current $37.3 billion market capitalization trails that of
Electronic Arts Inc.
EA -1.24%
with roughly $41 billion and Activision Blizzard Inc. with $73.66 billion.
Write to Sarah E. Needleman at [email protected]
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