Have any of you played Roblox? This game seems to be an obsession with the kids at my kids' schools. Minecraft is still super popular, but Roblox seems like the new kid on the block. Or at least the newly popular one.
I haven't played it myself, but just watching my kids, it seems like of like Minecraft with a bit less focus on building block structures and more focus on running around doing things.
Can anyone confirm that? Anyone play?
Unfortunately it's not on the Switch, so my kids constantly want to borrow my phone or laptop so that they can play it. Oh well. My youngest has even started saying he wants Santa to bring him a MacBook just to play Roblox. I wished him luck on that one.
I notice there is a Roblox stock — ticker symbol RBLX. It's around $94 as I write this, but looks like it's been falling over the past three months after hitting a high of $135 on Sept 19th. Not ideal in a bubble market where tech has been roaring.
Morningstar notes that Roblox has been shifting from preteens to older gamers with disposable income, which they think strengthens its investment case. I’m not fully convinced.
Robinhood lists it as a buy:
But Fidelity disagrees and flags it as bearish:
Fidelity also highlights a number of stories about parents suing Roblox for safety problems. That doesn’t inspire confidence.
It all sort of makes sense: Robinhood users skew younger and more speculative, while Fidelity’s base is older and more conservative.
But what do you guys think? Does this game have a future, or will it fizzle out as preteens move on to the next thing? Is the stock worth buying a few shares? Give me your thoughts.
[Isn't that lead picture wild? Roblox characters cosplaying as 1920s New Yorkers? I took this post and threw it in ChatGPT and my only instruction was "Make a title picture accurate to this post".]
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David is an American teacher and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Bluesky. |