The gaming company behind the free-to-play online gaming app and game creation system Roblox has submitted the necessary paperwork with regulators to begin the process of its initial public offering.
The company confirmed this week it had confidentially filed its papers with the Securities and Exchanges Commission for its public debut.
Based on its most recent funding round, the operator of the free-to-play gaming empire was valued at around $4 billion. The funding round, which was led by Andreessen Horowitz, was held in February. According to sources with knowledge of the matter, the company raised more than $335 million through the transaction.
Roblox did not disclose the exact number of shares it will be offering or its planned price range for the shares. In its filing documents, Roblox stated that the timing of its public debut will be "subject to market and other conditions."
While 2019 may have been a slow year for tech and gaming IPOs, public markets this year had seen an uptick in new share offerings from the industry. Last month, video game tool developer Unity Technologies managed to raise more than $1.3 billion through its initial public offering. The public offering gave the company, which creates game engines for other developers, a market valuation of about $13.6 billion.
Unlike other video game developers, Roblox uses a free-to-play business model for its platform, which allows users to create their own games within the game. The platform, which also has a social element, allows users to play games created by other users. Roblox mainly generates its revenues from in-game purchases of its virtual currency called "Robux."
The platform started relatively small, in terms of its size and its operations. However, the pandemic had managed to accentuate the game's success, which had rapidly grown in size over the previous years. As of August 2020, the platform boasts more than 164 million monthly active users. According to its own data, more than half of all children under the age of 16 in the United States have played or are current players of the game.
