the Japanese firm Sega buys the Finnish creator Rovio, at the origin of Angry Birds

2023-04-17 19:39:48

Published on : 17/04/2023 – 19:39

Japanese company Sega to buy Finnish company Rovio, known for its successful mobile video game franchise Angry Birds. A takeover that is part of a very specific logic for Sega: to survive in this very competitive market, estimated at more than 300 billion dollars.

Nearly 700 million euros is the amount Sega will spend to buy Rovio, the two companies announced in a joint press release. With this takeover, the Japanese firm not only gets its hands on the franchise Angry Birds from Finland, which had a dazzling success in the 2010s. Sega’s objective is to develop well in mobile video games.

SEGA to Acquire Rovio Entertainment Oyj

~ Global Expansion of the Consumer Business through Enhancement of Mobile Gaming Capabilities ~

Englishhttps://t.co/RR1lhY0IXr

— Sega official account ???? (@SEGA_OFFICIAL) April 17, 2023

This could well be the way to revive itself for the immense video game player of the 1980s and 1990s that is Sega, the origin of the blue hedgehog Sonic, and known for its arcade games. The brand had experienced a significant decline with its last home console, the Dreamcast, at the dawn of the 2000s.

► To read also: “Retrogaming”: playing old video games, at what price?

The race to acquire in the video game industry, a widespread practice to stand up to the competition

Sega will therefore try to keep pace in the crazy acquisition race, well known to the video game industry. Indeed, all the major players in this sector, which would weigh more than 300 billion dollars, are strengthening themselves by buying out their competitor.

The Chinese giant Tencent had acquired Riot Games, the publisher of League of Legends, one of the flagship games of e-sport competitions. Same thing for Sony which controls a large number of studios. As for Microsoft, the American firm still hopes to get its hands on the franchise Call of Dutyconsidered a staple of first-person shooters (FPS).

Sega hopes to complete the Rovio takeover operation during the third quarter. On the Helsinki Stock Exchange, Rovio’s stock rose more than 18% in favor of this operation. With this takeover, Sega also gets its hands on the Finn’s mobile gaming platform, Beacon, underlines the group. Mobile games are seen as a lifeline by the group, which achieved an annual turnover of 381.5 billion yen (about 2.6 billion euros) last year, for a net profit of 31.5 billion yen (214 million euros).