在專業(yè)做空機構(gòu)興登堡研究公司(Hindenburg Research)表示將做空游戲平臺Roblox后,Roblox的股價在本周二出現(xiàn)大跌,。
該股在本周二的紐約盤中交易中一度下跌9.4%,,創(chuàng)下8月初以來的新低,。今年以來,Roblox的股價已經(jīng)下跌超15%,。
興登堡研究公司在其報告中聲稱,,Roblox夸大了它的一些關(guān)鍵指標,而且也沒有足夠的安全篩選機制,,來防止戀童癖者使用該平臺,。
Roblox公司的一位發(fā)言人發(fā)表聲明稱:“我們完全否認這份報告中的說法。這份報告的作者是做空機構(gòu)(而且不管Roblox的業(yè)務(wù)模式和業(yè)績怎樣,,他們都有自己的目標),。”
Roblox的股價與用戶增長和用戶粘性密切相關(guān),。在過去幾年間,,該平臺取得了顯著增長,該公司CEO大衛(wèi)·巴斯祖奇表示,,Roblox的目標是讓日活躍用戶達到10億,。該公司還表示,目前每天都有8000萬用戶登錄該平臺,。
興登堡研究公司的報告稱,,Roblox夸大了游戲活躍用戶的數(shù)量,和用戶平均消費該平臺的時間,。
興登堡研究公司還指出,,Roblox的用戶可能會創(chuàng)建多個“小號”或使用機器人來增強游戲表現(xiàn)。有些情況下,,一個用戶甚至可能會有10個甚至100個“小號”,。興登堡研究公司稱,Roblox的一些關(guān)鍵指標被這些“小號”摻了水分,,它們目前都被Roblox算作了單一用戶,。
興登堡研究公司表示,為了開展這項研究,,他們聘請了一位技術(shù)顧問來監(jiān)控排名在前7200名的Roblox游戲,。經(jīng)過對3040萬獨立日活躍用戶的調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn),他們每天玩游戲的時間約為22分鐘,,遠低于Roblox公司2023年所稱的平均每天2.4小時的游戲時間,。
該報告還指出:“對游戲時間的進一步分析顯示,在許多游戲中,,有些明顯的機器人賬戶在游戲中的連續(xù)停留時間超過了24小時,。我們的樣本庫標記的‘僵尸號’停留時間累計達數(shù)百萬小時,這可能嚴重影響Roblox報告的所謂‘平均’用戶粘性,?!?/p>
Roblox的發(fā)言人指出,,在過去四個季度里,Roblox的預(yù)訂量(即現(xiàn)金收入)從去年二季度的7.807億美元增長至今年同期的9.552億美元,,增幅逾22%,。在此期間,該公司創(chuàng)造了5.76億美元的自由現(xiàn)金流,。作為一家私人公司,,這些指標才是Roblox和投資者一直關(guān)注的主題。
該發(fā)言人稱:“我們堅信,,從我們報告的財務(wù)指標看,,Roblox是一個安全可靠的平臺?!?
目前不知是由于服務(wù)器或網(wǎng)絡(luò)故障,還是由于格式不支持原因,,該媒體暫時無法加載,。
在用戶安全性問題上,興登堡研究公司援引了《彭博商業(yè)周刊》基于對20多名Roblox公司現(xiàn)任和前任員工的采訪所撰寫的調(diào)查報告,。
根據(jù)《彭博商業(yè)周刊》搜集的數(shù)據(jù),,自2018年以來,美國警方逮捕了至少24名涉嫌虐童者,,這些人都被控通過Roblox平臺認識或引誘了受害兒童,。根據(jù)《信息自由法》獲取的警方報告顯示,還有不法分子用該平臺的虛擬游戲幣Robux,,來引誘兒童向他們發(fā)送裸照,。
一位因擔(dān)心遭到該公司報復(fù)而要求匿名的Roblox審核員表示,她的團隊每天都會收到數(shù)百份關(guān)于兒童安全問題的報告,。由于相關(guān)報告太多了,,她的團隊根本處理不完。
接受《彭博商業(yè)周刊》采訪的大多數(shù)網(wǎng)絡(luò)安全人員表示,,在Roblox上追查戀童癖者,,比在其他在線平臺上更難。一部分原因是Roblox允許用戶在不輸入任何真實姓名,、電子郵件地址或電話號碼的情況下創(chuàng)建賬戶,。
興登堡研究公司的報告引起了人們對網(wǎng)游注冊安全機制不到位的關(guān)注。有研究人員假扮兒童身份創(chuàng)建了多個賬戶,,結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn),,注冊成功后,他們很快就會接觸到與性相關(guān)的內(nèi)容,,甚至包括男性生殖器的圖片,。
Roblox一直是專業(yè)做空媒體Bear Cave經(jīng)常報道的對象,。該網(wǎng)站的運營者埃德溫·多爾西在2022年就發(fā)表了一份關(guān)于該平臺的負面報道。多爾西表示,,對于他的網(wǎng)站上提到的那些公司,,他本人并不持反對立場。
彭博情報高級行業(yè)分析師曼迪普·辛格本周二寫道:“Roblox與沃爾瑪,、歐萊雅和耐克等大品牌的合作,,一定程度上使我們不太關(guān)注它的品牌安全問題。但它仍需要在家長控制和清理機器人賬戶等問題上進行投資,?!保ㄘ敻恢形木W(wǎng))
譯者:樸成奎
在專業(yè)做空機構(gòu)興登堡研究公司(Hindenburg Research)表示將做空游戲平臺Roblox后,Roblox的股價在本周二出現(xiàn)大跌,。
該股在本周二的紐約盤中交易中一度下跌9.4%,,創(chuàng)下8月初以來的新低。今年以來,,Roblox的股價已經(jīng)下跌超15%,。
興登堡研究公司在其報告中聲稱,Roblox夸大了它的一些關(guān)鍵指標,,而且也沒有足夠的安全篩選機制,,來防止戀童癖者使用該平臺。
Roblox公司的一位發(fā)言人發(fā)表聲明稱:“我們完全否認這份報告中的說法,。這份報告的作者是做空機構(gòu)(而且不管Roblox的業(yè)務(wù)模式和業(yè)績怎樣,,他們都有自己的目標)?!?/p>
Roblox的股價與用戶增長和用戶粘性密切相關(guān),。在過去幾年間,該平臺取得了顯著增長,,該公司CEO大衛(wèi)·巴斯祖奇表示,,Roblox的目標是讓日活躍用戶達到10億。該公司還表示,,目前每天都有8000萬用戶登錄該平臺,。
興登堡研究公司的報告稱,Roblox夸大了游戲活躍用戶的數(shù)量,,和用戶平均消費該平臺的時間,。
興登堡研究公司還指出,Roblox的用戶可能會創(chuàng)建多個“小號”或使用機器人來增強游戲表現(xiàn),。有些情況下,,一個用戶甚至可能會有10個甚至100個“小號”。興登堡研究公司稱,,Roblox的一些關(guān)鍵指標被這些“小號”摻了水分,,它們目前都被Roblox算作了單一用戶,。
興登堡研究公司表示,為了開展這項研究,,他們聘請了一位技術(shù)顧問來監(jiān)控排名在前7200名的Roblox游戲,。經(jīng)過對3040萬獨立日活躍用戶的調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn),他們每天玩游戲的時間約為22分鐘,,遠低于Roblox公司2023年所稱的平均每天2.4小時的游戲時間,。
該報告還指出:“對游戲時間的進一步分析顯示,在許多游戲中,,有些明顯的機器人賬戶在游戲中的連續(xù)停留時間超過了24小時,。我們的樣本庫標記的‘僵尸號’停留時間累計達數(shù)百萬小時,這可能嚴重影響Roblox報告的所謂‘平均’用戶粘性,?!?/p>
Roblox的發(fā)言人指出,在過去四個季度里,,Roblox的預(yù)訂量(即現(xiàn)金收入)從去年二季度的7.807億美元增長至今年同期的9.552億美元,,增幅逾22%。在此期間,,該公司創(chuàng)造了5.76億美元的自由現(xiàn)金流。作為一家私人公司,,這些指標才是Roblox和投資者一直關(guān)注的主題,。
該發(fā)言人稱:“我們堅信,從我們報告的財務(wù)指標看,,Roblox是一個安全可靠的平臺,。”
目前不知是由于服務(wù)器或網(wǎng)絡(luò)故障,,還是由于格式不支持原因,,該媒體暫時無法加載。
在用戶安全性問題上,,興登堡研究公司援引了《彭博商業(yè)周刊》基于對20多名Roblox公司現(xiàn)任和前任員工的采訪所撰寫的調(diào)查報告,。
根據(jù)《彭博商業(yè)周刊》搜集的數(shù)據(jù),自2018年以來,,美國警方逮捕了至少24名涉嫌虐童者,,這些人都被控通過Roblox平臺認識或引誘了受害兒童。根據(jù)《信息自由法》獲取的警方報告顯示,,還有不法分子用該平臺的虛擬游戲幣Robux,,來引誘兒童向他們發(fā)送裸照。
一位因擔(dān)心遭到該公司報復(fù)而要求匿名的Roblox審核員表示,,她的團隊每天都會收到數(shù)百份關(guān)于兒童安全問題的報告,。由于相關(guān)報告太多了,,她的團隊根本處理不完。
接受《彭博商業(yè)周刊》采訪的大多數(shù)網(wǎng)絡(luò)安全人員表示,,在Roblox上追查戀童癖者,,比在其他在線平臺上更難。一部分原因是Roblox允許用戶在不輸入任何真實姓名,、電子郵件地址或電話號碼的情況下創(chuàng)建賬戶,。
興登堡研究公司的報告引起了人們對網(wǎng)游注冊安全機制不到位的關(guān)注。有研究人員假扮兒童身份創(chuàng)建了多個賬戶,,結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn),,注冊成功后,他們很快就會接觸到與性相關(guān)的內(nèi)容,,甚至包括男性生殖器的圖片,。
Roblox一直是專業(yè)做空媒體Bear Cave經(jīng)常報道的對象。該網(wǎng)站的運營者埃德溫·多爾西在2022年就發(fā)表了一份關(guān)于該平臺的負面報道,。多爾西表示,,對于他的網(wǎng)站上提到的那些公司,他本人并不持反對立場,。
彭博情報高級行業(yè)分析師曼迪普·辛格本周二寫道:“Roblox與沃爾瑪,、歐萊雅和耐克等大品牌的合作,一定程度上使我們不太關(guān)注它的品牌安全問題,。但它仍需要在家長控制和清理機器人賬戶等問題上進行投資,。”(財富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:樸成奎
Roblox Corp. shares slumped Tuesday after short seller Hindenburg Research said it’s betting against the gaming platform.
The stock fell as much as 9.4% in intraday trading Tuesday in New York, hitting the lowest level since early August. The online gaming company’s stock has shed more than 15% so far this year.
Hindenburg said in its report that Roblox has inflated key metrics and alleged that it doesn’t have sufficient safety screens to prevent pedophiles from using the platform.
“We totally reject the claims made in the report,” a Roblox spokesperson said in a statement. “The authors are, admittedly short sellers (and have an agenda irrespective of the substance of Roblox’s business model and results).”
Roblox’s share price is strongly associated with user growth and engagement. Over the last few years, the platform has seen massive growth, with Chief Executive Officer Dave Baszucki now aiming for a goal of 1 billion daily active users. Currently, Roblox reports 80 million users logging onto the platform every day.
Hindenburg’s report accuses the company of inflating both the number of users who regularly play Roblox games and the amount of time they spend on average on the platform.
Roblox users may create alternative accounts or use bots to enhance their gameplay, the research firm noted. In some instances, one user might operate ten or 100 alternative accounts. Hindenburg claims that Roblox’s key metrics are inflated by these secondary accounts, which are currently counted as singular users.
For the study, Hindenburg said it hired a technical consultant to monitor the top 7,200 Roblox games. The resulting review of 30.4 million unique daily users, according to Hindenburg, found that they spent approximately 22 minutes a day playing the games – significantly less than the 2.4 hours of average daily engagement that Roblox reported for the year 2023.
“Further analysis of play times showed numerous games in which obvious bot accounts remained in-game for more than 24 hours straight,” the report noted. “Our representative sample flagged millions of ‘zombie’ engagement hours that can majorly skew Roblox’s reported ‘a(chǎn)verage’ engagement.”
Over the past four quarters, Roblox’s bookings, or the amount of cash receipts, have grown more than 22% to $955.2 million in the second quarter of 2024 from $780.7 million a year earlier, according to the company. During the same time, the company generated $576 million of free cash flow. Those metrics are themes Roblox has focused on consistently with investors since it was a private company, according to the spokesperson.
“We firmly believe that Roblox is a safe and secure platform and in the financial metrics we report,” the spokesperson said.
The media could not be loaded, either because the server or network failed or because the format is not supported.
On user safety, the report cites a recent Bloomberg Businessweek investigation into predatory behavior on Roblox that was based on interviews with more than 20 current and former employees.
Since 2018, police in the US have arrested at least two dozen people accused of abusing or abducting kids they met or groomed via Roblox, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Police reports, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, show predators luring children into sending naked photos by offering to pay them Robux, the platform’s virtual in-game currency.
One Roblox moderator, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation from the company, said her team receives hundreds of escalated reports involving child safety every day, far too many for the team to clear.
Most of the safety workers interviewed by Bloomberg Businessweek said it was harder to pursue pedophiles at Roblox than at other online platforms, in part, because the company allows users to create an account without entering any real names, email addresses or phone numbers.
Hindenburg’s report raised concerns with the lack of screening upon sign-up. The researchers created multiple fake accounts as children and found they were quickly exposed to sexual content, including images of male genitalia.
Roblox has been the target of multiple cautious reports from the Bear Cave, a financial newsletter that caters to the short-selling community. Edwin Dorsey, who runs the site, first published a contrarian report about the gaming platform in 2022. Dorsey said he doesn’t take positions against companies profiled in the newsletter.
“Roblox’s partnerships with big brands including Walmart, L’Oreal and Nike alleviate our concerns about brand safety but it may still need to invest in parent controls and cleaning up bots,” Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Industry Analyst Mandeep Singh wrote Tuesday.