It was rumoured last week that Sega was in the process of buying Angry Birds maker Rovio for a cool one billion dollars. While ultimately it didn't quite reach that figure, it is now official that the Japanese giant has acquired the mobile game specialist.
Sega announced it acquired Rovio Entertainment this morning, with the final purchase price totalling €706 million (around $775 million). Founded in Helsinki, Finland, Rovio is best known for Angry Birds, which was one of the first hugely popular mobile games, having reached one billion downloads by May 2012, less than three years after the title launched. With this purchase, Sega will look to expand into mobile, an arena where the company doesn't have great strengths while it also mentioned other media opportunities.
"I grew up playing 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Sonic the Hedgehog, captivated by its state-of-the-art design", Rovio CEO Alexandre Pelletier-Normand s🌞aid about the deal. "Later, when I played Angry Birds for the first time, I knew that gaming had evolved into a true mainstream phenomenon, with the power to shape modern culture".
Sega's purchase of Rovio is strategic, as outlined in its acquisition . It wants to use Rovio's know-how in the live-service mobile game market and bring that expertise to the company's IPs, especially as mobile games continues to grow at a faster rate than console and PC. The multimedia potential was another aspect that was highlighted.
"Rovio and SEGA have both succeeded in extending its IPs, 'Angry Birds' and 'Sonic the Hedgehog', to various media outside of video games, such as movies, anime, and merchandising, and accordingly hold a strong fanbase around the world as well as know-how regarding IP expansion".
The Angry Birds Movie released in 2016 and was a commercial success, grossing $352 million worldwide, but its follow-up, The Angry Birds Movie 2, could not repeat its success, grossing less than half of the first film's box office take. Sega has been enjoying more success in movies with the most recent screen adaptation of its most iconic character, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, grossing over $405 million and becoming one of the most successful video game films of all time.
But perhaps the least well-known part of the deal, and possibly the obscured gem, is tha🎉t Rovio owns and operates Beacon, a technology suite𓄧 that allows developers to make and monetise games, and which underpins the Angry Birds series.
"Among the rapidly growing global gaming market, the mobile gaming market has especially high potential, and it has been SEGA's long-term goal to accelerate its expansion in this field", said President and Group CEO of SEGA Sammy Holdings Haruki Satomi.
Rovio CEO Pelletier-Normand continued, "Red and Sonic the Hedgehog: two globally recognised and iconic characters made by two remarkably൲ complementary companies, with a worldwide reach that spans mobile, PC/console, and beyond. Combining the strengths of Rovio and SEGA presents an incredibly exciting future."