What simply occurred? Sonic will quickly have some new avian associates to mingle with as Sega has agreed to buy Angry Birds maker Rovio Entertainment. The Japanese online game large is paying 9.25 euro per share and 1.48 euro per choice for Rovio, which works out to a complete of roughly 706 million euro or round $772 million. The buy worth represents roughly a 19 % premium over Rovio’s closing worth final Friday however is way from what a sale at an earlier date might have introduced.
During the peak of Angry Bird insanity in 2012, Rovio reportedly turned down a $2 billion acquisition provide from Zynga.
The two sides described the acquisition as a pleasant takeover, and one which Rovio’s board has already agreed to. Should the whole lot go in line with plan, the deal is anticipated to shut later this yr.
The Finnish recreation studio was based in 2003 as Relude earlier than altering its title to Rovio Mobile a few years later. Rovio labored on loads of video games in its early days however its breakout title, Angry Birds, would change the corporate’s trajectory and the course of cell gaming perpetually.
The physics-based title debuted simply as cell gaming was beginning to take root, and was among the many first main titles to experiment with the free-to-play ad-supported mannequin when it was ported to Android. The recreation’s unbelievable success spawned a complete franchise of video games, cartoons, films, merchandise and extra that continues to at the present time.
The unique Angry Birds is considered one of 12 finalists vying for a spot within the 2023 World Video Game Hall of Fame.
Sega goals to leverage Rovio’s experience in stay service cell recreation operation by way of its Beacon service to carry new and current titles to market. Cross-platform growth of Rovio video games utilizing Sega’s know-how can be within the playing cards, and you may make certain the 2 sides will commerce tips about find out how to higher leverage current IP for max publicity and revenue.
