Roblox: David Baszucki worth $4.6bn as shares soar

Chief executive of Roblox David Baszucki may well be letting out the "Oof" sound made famous by the game, after the firm's debut on Wall Street netted him $4.6bn (£3.3bn).

The gaming platform has risen in value by 60% to $47bn after its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

It means it is worth more than some of biggest games publishers, including Take Two, Ubisoft and Electronic Arts.

Mr Baszucki said it would help create a digital world that went beyond gaming.

"To all those who helped us get one step closer to fulfilling our vision of the Metaverse - thank you," he tweeted.

The Metaverse is a science fiction concept for a series of interconnected digital worlds where people hang out, play games, work and learn.

The phrase was coined in the novel Snow Crash, where it served as a virtual-reality-based successor to the internet. The novel Ready Player One and its 2018 film adaptation depicted a similar idea in its "Oasis" and several games have attempted to create virtual worlds for real-world activities.

Roblox is the world's largest user-generated games site. Players can also build and share online worlds. It is free to play, relying on purchases paid for in currency known as "robux" for its income.

Developers are also paid in the virtual currency, which can be converted back into cash. Last year more than 1,250 developers made $10,000 or more, with 300 making more than $100,000.

The pandemic lockdowns made 2020 a huge year for the firm as children, cut off physically from their friends, flocked to Roblox for social interaction instead.

As well as a huge variety of games to play, visitors can also attend concerts, birthday parties and other events, meaning the average user spends more than two hours per day on the platform.

User numbers jumped 85% over the past year, and now stand at 37 million globally. Most are children aged 12 or under.

In 2020 the firm generated close to $1.2bn from the Apple App Store and Android's Google Play store.

Craig Chapple, an analyst at research firm Sensor Tower, said its surge in value showed the huge confidence investors had in the firm.

"Roblox has executed superbly on its vision of enabling vast amounts of user-generated content, cross-platform play and a platform to connect with others.

"These are some of the big key games industry trends that other publishers are just now catching up on, where Roblox is already racing ahead."

But he added there were challenges ahead.

"This includes increased scrutiny of the company's business strategies and raising the average age of its young player base - but Roblox offers something unique in the market that's not easy or quick to replicate.

"This new injection of funds is a bet from investors on bringing us a step closer to the Metaverse, like that depicted in Ready Player One."