Roblox Continues Its Transition From Kids’ Game To Corporate Powerhouse

If you or your kids love creating, playing, and engaging with other users in the Roblox universe, you already get its widespread appeal.

But there’s something that sets it apart from most other games — it’s making a ton of money from the loyal players who are willing to shell out real bucks to advance their in-game experiences.

What are bookings?

As the third-quarter earnings season continues, investors got a glimpse at the publicly traded company’s numbers … and they’re pretty impressive. Following a less-than-stellar second-quarter report, Roblox saw its stock price take a hit. But now it’s back and apparently better than ever.

And it’s all thanks to a little something called “bookings.” Basically, the term refers to the rate of virtual currency sales that the company makes when users buy things while playing.

While such in-game purchases have become a hallmark of modern gaming, Roblox seems to be doing it better than most. Here’s a brief overview of the company’s latest quarterly report.

• Its nearly $840 million in bookings was more than $17 million higher than projections.
• Shortly after the report dropped, Roblox’s stock price skyrocketed by more than 10%.
• Even after its Q2 dip, its stock price is still 40% higher than at the start of the year.

But despite achieving more than 70 million daily active users worldwide, Roblox still thinks it has room for improvement.

Ditching the metaverse

Roblox has long existed in the “metaverse,” which seemed cool a few years ago but is kind of cringey for some younger folks and too hard for some older would-be fans to comprehend.

So the company is working to shed that image by improving graphics, teaming up with non-meta partners like the NHL and FIFA, and generally appealing to an age group with more money to burn.

Chris Agee November 10th, 2023

Share this story: