Rovio

Market position

Rovio describes itself as a global mobile-first games company; its Angry Birds franchise is one of the most downloaded mobile game brands, with the company citing over 5 billion downloads. Wikipedia notes Rovio's success helped establish Finland as a leading player in the mobile game industry.

Ownership of the Angry Birds intellectual property and its extension across games, animation, film and licensed consumer products, supported by a multi-studio structure across Europe and Canada and, since 2023, backing from Sega.

Technology

Mobile game development across iOS, Android, PC and browser, with console/handheld ports and titles built for emerging platforms including augmented reality (Angry Birds AR: Isle of Pigs) and virtual/mixed reality (Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs, Angry Birds Movie 2 VR: Under Pressure).

Go-to-market

Distribution via mobile app stores and PC/browser, with console and handheld ports through partners (e.g. Activision for Angry Birds Trilogy and Angry Birds Star Wars), brand extensions into film, animation series and licensed products, and franchise crossovers such as Star Wars and Transformers.

Mobile game players worldwide, plus consumers of Angry Birds branded entertainment and licensed merchandise; the company also works with licensing and distribution partners such as Activision for console releases.

Geography

Headquartered in Espoo, Finland, with locations in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Canada and Spain plus a subsidiary in Turkey, together housing seven game studios; Wikipedia lists studios in Barcelona, Toronto, Espoo, Stockholm and Copenhagen, with former offices in Montreal and eight studios as of 2022. Games are distributed worldwide.

History

After Relude's 2003 founding and the 2005 rename to Rovio, the company developed dozens of games for early mobile platforms. In 2009 Mikael Hed was appointed CEO and Rovio released Angry Birds, its 52nd game, developed in eight months when the company was near bankruptcy; it reached No. 1 in the Apple App Store paid apps chart. Licensed plush toys followed in 2010, and the company raised $42 million in venture funding in March 2011, renaming itself Rovio Entertainment in July 2011. It hired David Maisel to lead its Angry Birds movie production in June 2011, bought Helsinki animation company Kombo by October 2011 and Futuremark Game Studios in March 2012, opened a Stockholm studio in 2012, and launched the Toons.TV channel with Angry Birds Toons in March 2013 (discontinued 2017). Angry Birds passed one billion downloads in May 2012 and two billion in January 2014. Angry Birds 2 launched in 2015 and The Angry Birds Movie in 2016, followed by Angry Birds Dream Blast in 2018 and The Angry Birds Movie 2 in 2019. A period of decline brought layoffs of 110 employees in December 2014 (and closure of the Tampere studio), 260 employees in August 2015, and at least 35 animation jobs in February 2017; CEO succession moved from Mikael Hed to Pekka Rantala (January 2015) to Kati Levoranta (January 2016). Rovio listed on Nasdaq Helsinki in 2017, opened a London MMO studio in January 2017, established the Lumi studio in Montreal and acquired Darkfire Games (Rovio Copenhagen) in 2020, acquired İzmir-based Ruby Games and opened a Toronto studio in 2021, and added a second Montreal studio and a Barcelona office in 2022. Sega acquired the company in August 2023.

Risks & controversies

Rovio experienced a sustained downturn after its early peak: net profits halved and 110 employees were laid off in December 2014 with the Tampere studio closed; profit fell 73% to €10 million at the end of 2014, attributed by then-CEO Pekka Rantala to weak licensed merchandise sales; 260 employees were laid off in August 2015 after Angry Birds toy and merchandise revenue fell 43% in 2014; and at least 35 animation jobs were cut in February 2017. In January 2014 reports indicated the Angry Birds app leaked data to third parties, possibly including surveillance agencies such as the NSA, after which anti-NSA hackers defaced Rovio's website.