UPDATE April 17: It’s official, Sega is acquiring Rovio for $776 million or €706 million.
“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 Haruki Satomi, president and Group CEO of Sega Sammy.
“I feel blessed to be able to announce such a transaction with Rovio, a company that owns Angry Bird”, which is loved across the world, and home to many skilled employees that support the company’s industry leading mobile game development and operating capabilities. Historically, as represented by the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Sega has released countless video game titles to various gaming platforms. I am confident that, through combination of both companies’ brands, characters, fanbase, as well as corporate culture and functionality, there will be significant synergies created going forward.”
“Joining Rovio has been an honour and I am proud to have seen Angry Birds continue to grow, as we released new games, series and films,” said Rovio CEO Alexandre Pelletier-Normand. “Less known but equally impressive is our industry-leading proprietary technology platform, Beacon, holding 20 years of expertise, allowing tight-knit teams to develop world-class [games-as-a-service] products.
“We are thrilled at the idea of using our expertise and tools to bring even more joy to our players, enhancing and expanding Rovio’s and Sega’s vibrant IPs.
“Red and Sonic the Hedgehog: two globally recognized and iconic characters made by two remarkably 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.”
Reports suggest Sega may be close to acquiring Rovio in a deal worth $1 billion. The news comes from the Wall Street Journal.
The deal is meant to close sometime next week and if all goes well between the creators of Angry Birds and Sega, then we’ll likely see official confirmation. Neither Sega nor Rovio has said anything regarding the sale but we’ll report back if anything is mentioned. Previously Isreal’s Playtika was in talks with Rovio to acquire the company back in January 2023 but late last month talks dissolved.
Sega is nearing a deal to acquire the company behind the "Angry Birds" mobile game for about $1 billion https://t.co/cDAGB6xsmD
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) April 14, 2023
The video game industry continues to get smaller as larger publishers are buying up studios and adding them to their roster, including Microsoft’s merger with Activision Blizzard, NetEase picking up SkyBox Labs, Netflix picking up Spry Fox, Nordisk Games picking up Supermassive Games, and Sony picking up Bungie.
Being know for Angry Birds, Rovio hasn’t seen much success out of the franchise that began in 2009 as an iOS game. More and more publishers are seemingly looking to tackle the mobile market and this could be the beginning of more acquisitions within the mobile space. Last year, Take-Two Interactive purchased Zynga for 12.7 billion and once the Activision Blizzard acquisiton is done, will own Candy Crush developer King.
