Sega Confirms Plans To Acquire Angry Birds Developer Rovio

Recently, there has been a big announcement in the video game industry. Sega has confirmed that it plans to acquire Rovio Entertainment, the creator of the popular mobile game Angry Birds, for a staggering $776 million. This acquisition is being described as a “friendly takeover” and has the full support of Rovio’s board of directors. The deal is expected to be completed by the second quarter of the 2024 financial year, which will be around September.

According to an official press statement by Sega’s parent company, Sega Sammy Holdings, it will make a tender offer to purchase “the entirety of Rovio’s outstanding shares and options.” Sega expects that acquiring Rovio will help it to strengthen its own mobile game portfolio, while also allowing it to use its expertise in video game consoles to help Rovio expand beyond mobile devices. Sega’s president and Group CEO, Haruki Satomi, explained that “the mobile gaming market has especially high potential, and it has been Sega’s long-term goal to accelerate its expansion in this field.”

After the acquisition is completed, Rovio will become a part of Sega Europe, the UK-based arm of the company that includes studios like Creative Assembly, Relic Entertainment, and Two Point Studios. Sega has also indicated that it will actively support Rovio’s expansion into platforms outside of mobile gaming.

It’s worth noting that earlier this year, Rovio caused some controversy after it delisted the original Angry Birds paid game on Android and renamed it on iOS due to its impact on the studio’s “wider games portfolio.” However, it’s clear that Sega still saw the value in the company and was willing to make a significant investment.

While the $776 million price tag may seem steep, it pales in comparison to some of the other big acquisitions made in the video game industry in recent years. For example, Sony’s acquisition of Destiny 2 developer Bungie cost $3.6 billion, while the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund paid $4.9 billion for Scopely. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s pending $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard is one of the largest deals in the industry’s history and is slowly inching closer to reality.