Online service Roblox.
Lionel Bonaventure | AFP | Getty Images
According to a memorandum the company sent to employees Thursday, Roblox has postponed plans to make public because of the investigation into the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission.
The delay is a setback for one of the debuts most expected on the US market in 2021. The company said in a regulatory dossier earlier this month that it intends to list shares on the New York Stock Exchange in February.
Roblox’s valuation rose to $ 29.5 billion in a fundraising round earlier this month, more than seven times the $ 4 billion the company valued at 11 months earlier, amid an increase in video game popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The SEC is making reservations about the way Roblox recognizes the revenue from the sale of its currency, Robux, on its platform, according to the memo Reuters saw.
Players use Robux in the game to buy a mix of durable goods that last for a period of time and consumables that are used immediately. Roblox tried to treat all the income the same and pay it off during the duration of its paying bills, which is about two years.
The SEC wants Roblox to be more specific and recognize revenue on consumables as they are consumed, while the durable services will still be recognized during the lifetime of the Roblox user, the memorandum reads.
“By taking the accounting position, our revenue will actually be a little higher, while bookings, DAUs (daily active users), hours of commitment and cash flow will not change,” said David Baszucki, founder and CEO, in wrote the memo to Roblox. staff, whom he refers to as ‘Robloxians’.
“However, it will take us a while to update this change in our financial statements,” he said.
A Roblox spokesman declined to comment.
This is not the first delay of the listing plans. Roblox told employees in December it had postponed the listing until 2021 because it was working with advisors to improve the process to the benefit of employees and investors. The company eventually switched gears, saying it would appear to be published through a direct listing instead of an initial public offering (IPO).
Roblox’s revenue – based on its earlier definition of the benchmark – rose 68% to $ 588.7 million in the first nine months of 2020. The company attributed a net loss to ordinary shareholders of $ 203.2 million compared to $ 46.3 million a year earlier.
Roblox, which is one of the world’s most popular gaming sites for kids and offers a number of games on mobile devices and game consoles, said its daily active user base rose 82% to 31.1 million in the nine months ended September 30 in the same period. a year ago.
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