Roblox Grew From $4B To $29.5B In 2020, Goes Public Next Month

Back in October, we first heard about Roblox's intent to take its game public. Then, in November came got the official word that the company and game would go public "As soon as practicable."

That time is nearly upon us, as the Roblox Corporation has made it known that it has received approval to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with 198,917,280 "Class A common stock to begin trading on or about March 10, 2021." That comes from an SEC filing from yesterday, where Roblox disclosed several of its financial numbers for the year 2020, in which it showed fantastic growth.

To give you an idea of just how fantastic it was, one year ago this month, Roblox was valued at $4 billion, a number that I said "sounds a little on the small side." That underestimation, combined with the pandemic keeping everyone at home throughout the rest of the year, saw the total value of the company balloon to $29.5 billion. That's a great year, no matter how you slice it.

Want more numbers? Daily active users in Roblox grew from 17.6 million in 2019 to 32.6 million in 2020, hours of engagement from 13.7 billion in 2019 to 30.6 billion in 2020, and revenue from $508.4 million in 2019 to $923.9 million in 2020.

If there was ever a time to go public and cash out, it would be now, and even Roblox acknowledges the role the pandemic played in its meteoric growth, saying "we do not expect these activity levels to be sustained ... as the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on society and the global economy become clearer." As for now, though, its operators look to be reaping a spectacular windfall.