'When you're just like a 13-year -old making a game in your bedroom, you don't really have all these internalized rules and you kind of just make whatever you want and whatever comes to mind,' she says. She's a computer programmer who works on the platform's popular game 'Adopt Me.' She likes that anyone can publish a game on Roblox. Twenty-year-old Zoe Basil lives with roommates she first met on Roblox. 'And I think that's what Roblox really gets is the social aspect.' Hicks says the key is watching games, concerts or films together at the same time online is key to that future.

When you're just like a 13-year-old making a game in your bedroom, you don't really have all these internalized rules and you kind of just make whatever you want. Baszucki estimates three-quarters of American children age nine-through-12 hang out on Roblox every month. The company's CEO, David Baszucki, known as 'Builder Man,' co-founded Roblox in 2004 with Erik Cassel. 'This money will either give them an opportunity to build more content for the for the platform or to go to adjacent platforms like music or partnering with Spotify or movie service,' he says. Going public, he says, will allow Roblox to build a digital empire, beyond gaming.

McNealy says the company started with a younger demographic and is growing. He describes the platform as, 'Minecraft meets Nintendo, which meets Lego and mobile phones enable a whole bunch of it.'

He says Roblox has benefitted during COVID by having a captive audience. McNealy, CEO of Digital World Research who teaches at Boston College. 'Roblox is a bit of a substitute babysitter when some parents need a break at home,' says P.J.

Roblox stock public