Roblox’s Roadblock

Roblox is again delaying its highly anticipated plans to go public — but not by choice.

The SEC has concerns about how Roblox “recognizes revenue in its finances,” particularly from the platform’s Robux currency, according to Reuters.

The past couple of months have been a roller coaster for the video game platform.

• December 2020: Roblox announced it was pushing back its go-public date with plans to raise the IPO price.
• January 2021: The company said it was instead going public through a direct listing after raising $520 million in a Series H funding round. A new date was slated for February.

Roblox offers a mix of “durable” and “consumable” items for in-game purchase. Initially, the platform wanted to treat the revenue from both in the same way — by amortizing it over approximately two years. 

Now, the SEC is asking Roblox to recognize revenue from consumable products like Robux immediately, as they are immediately used.

“By adopting that accounting position, our revenue will actually be a bit higher,” David Baszucki, founder and chief executive at Roblox, told associates in a memo. “It will, however, take us some time to update this change in our financial statements.”

Roblox’s valuation rose to $29.5 billion earlier this month, towering over the $4 billion the company was valued at around the same time last year.