SEGA has announced that the company will purchase Rovio Entertainment for $775 million. Rovio is best known for their work on the Angry Birds franchise. After the acquisition, SEGA will own Angry Birds and all its subsidiaries including the successful media division.
While Rovio has worked on other games in the past such as Sugar Blast and Small Town Murders, its most successful series is Angry Birds. The mobile game was released back in 2009 and became an internet sensation.
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Angry Birds has since been downloaded a few billion times and has been turned into a movie, TV series and clothing line. There have also been multiple spin-offs in the Angry Birds series including match ’em games, VR releases and more.
The entire deal is going to set SEGA back $775 million but the acquisition of Angry Birds is a small factor in the company’s plans. SEGA will now have access to a robust mobile development team which means the company can now develop mobile games in-house instead of outsourcing them remotely.
SEGA has multiple mobile games on the market based on its popular franchises. The addition of Rovio gives SEGA access to a development team and the talent behind Angry Birds. In a statement, SEGA says the company is focusing on growing into the mobile gaming market by offering new and current titles to players. It also plans to expand these franchises into the trans-media market.
The Company firmly believes that it is imperative to continue investing in its game development and operating capabilities, in order to further strengthen its position in this fast-growing mobile and global gaming market, which therefore led to the decision to acquire Rovio. Through the Acquisition, the Company aims to take-in Rovio’s live-operated mobile game development capabilities and expertise in mobile game operation, to accelerate the development of mobile-compatible and multi-platform-supported version of SEGA’s existing game IPs, thereby strengthening and further accelerating global expansion of SEGA’s game portfolio.
Source: SEGA PR
