Latest news with #Voldex
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
This Teen Built a Game on Roblox -- Then Sold It for Millions
Teen developers are striking gold on Roblox (NYSE:RBLX), and investors are quietly pouring in behind the scenes. A 19-year-old who built Blue Lock: Rivalsan anime-inspired soccer gamesold it for over $3 million just months after launch. At its peak, the title hit more than 1 million concurrent players and was generating roughly $5 million per month for Roblox. The buyer? Do Big Studios, a firm that's been actively snapping up hit titles across the platform, including Grow a Garden, which broke records in June with 21 million simultaneous playerssurpassing Fortnite. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 6 Warning Signs with RBLX. What's fueling this surge in deals is a structural shift in Roblox's ecosystem. A December platform update quietly made it easier for developers to transfer ownership of their gamessomething that used to violate Roblox's terms. That's opened the floodgates. Voldex, another acquisitive player, bought Brookhaven RP in February in a deal CEO Alex Singer described as bigger than Embracer Group's acquisition of Welcome to Bloxburg, which had been reported at around $100 million. Most of these deals are brokered on Discord. Many sellers remain anonymous. But behind the avatars, there's real moneyand increasing interest from capital providers like Raine Group and Shamrock Capital. Roblox's creator economy is now attracting serious financial attention. The platform is on track to pay out over $1 billion to developers this year, with the top ten creators earning $36 million each over the last 12 months. Valuations for games typically range from 112 months of revenue, depending on how stable the player base looks. Voldex has even inked partnerships with the NFL to rebrand games like Ultimate Football, extending their shelf life. Roblox isn't actively participating in these secondary market transactions, but the trajectory is clear: this could be the early innings of a new asset class where digital gamesespecially those born in teenage bedroomscommand multi-million-dollar exits. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Roblox's ‘Brookhaven RP' Video Game Is Sold by Mystery Creator
(Bloomberg) -- Brookhaven RP, the most popular title on Roblox Corp.'s video-game service, was sold by its mystery creator to Voldex Entertainment Ltd., a startup that specializes in developing user-generated titles. Citadel to Leave Namesake Chicago Tower as Employees Relocate State Farm Seeks Emergency California Rate Hike After Fires Transportation Memos Favor Places With Higher Birth and Marriage Rates San Francisco Wants Wealthy Donors to Help Fix Fentanyl Crisis NY Transit Advocate Says Billions in Tax Hikes Would Fix MTA Brookhaven attracts 120 million players every month who enjoy role-playing life in a town and hanging out with friends. Terms of the sale by its creator, who goes by the name Wolfpaq, weren't disclosed. User-generated games have become big business on platforms like Roblox and Epic Games' Unreal Editor for Fortnite. Voldex's lineup includes titles played on Fortnite Creative and Minecraft, as well as on Roblox. On average, more people are playing Brookhaven at any moment than all but one of the top five games on Valve Corp.'s Steam service. The Roblox game Welcome to Bloxburg was sold to Embracer Group AB in 2022 for a reported $100 million — it had less than half of Brookhaven's user base. Wolfpaq said on the Discord message service that being the sole creator of a game 'comes with great cost.' Voldex will assign at least 15 developers to continue building the title, founder and Chief Executive Officer Alex Singer said in an interview. The game's creator will stay on through the transition. 'I have decided it's time for me to pass the torch to a team of developers who will be as dedicated to Brookhaven as I have been,' Wolfpaq said. Singer began his business making and then purchasing user-made Minecraft games for between $1,000 and $80,000. He shifted to Roblox around 2018, acquiring the popular games Driving Empire and Universe Football, which now has an official deal with the NFL. In September, he called the investment bank Raine Group seeking financing to buy Brookhaven. Voldex and Raine, which led the equity financing for the deal, also declined to share the terms. 'We haven't seen this much interest in putting forward money for game investment in a long time,' Dara Leung, a managing director at Raine, said in an interview. 'It was a very competitive process to even invest.' In a post on X, Roblox Chief Executive Officer Dave Baszucki congratulated Wolfpaq, who 'built an experience on Roblox that competes with any standalone life simulation game.' The sale stands in contrast to a tough investment climate for game startups. Investors have retreated in recent years, citing skyrocketing costs of development and an uncertain rate of success with consumers. Gaming investment may fall further in 2025, according to a December PitchBook report. The authors expect 'a further pullback in the number of investors backing content developers, but the industry's long-term trajectory means the sector is underinvested relative to the $187.7 billion spent on games annually,' the report reads. Investors see more opportunity in platforms where users can make their own games. Roblox continues to grow at a steady rate and boasts nearly 90 million daily active users. Instead of spending on pricey motion-capture technology or multiplatform marketing, Roblox developers rely on the company's tools to make and publish less-expensive, whimsical games that appeal to younger audiences. 'Platforms like Roblox have proven that its tools and technology truly democratize game creation,' Leung said. 'It's a very unique opportunity. We're just at the beginning.' Orange Juice Makers Are Desperate for a Comeback Inside Elon Musk's Attack on the US Government Believing in Aliens Derailed This Internet Pioneer's Career. Now He's Facing Prison Amazon and SpaceX Want In on India's Satellite Internet Market Elon Musk Inside the Treasury Department Payment System ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
