Japanese gaming company, Sega, has announced its intention to buy Finnish gaming studio Rovio, the creator of iconic game, Angry Birds.
Sega said the acquisition is part of a five-year growth strategy to invest around $1.86bn by 2026.
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The company has been exploring investment opportunities in the consumer gaming space to strengthen its global development capabilities. Sega has historically acquired numerous development studios, from UK-based The Creative Assembly in 2005, to Japan’s Atlus in 2013.
Sega said the Rovio acquisition would further “strengthen its position” in the global gaming market. Rovio is a mobile focused games company that creates, develops and publishes mobile games, which have been downloaded over 5 billion times.
Rovio’s most successful game, Angry Birds was launched in 2009, and
has since evolved into a multi-channel brand encompassing entertainment, anime, and consumer products through brand licensing.
Haruki Satomi, president and group CEO, of Sega Sammy Holdings said: “Among the rapidly growing global gaming market, the mobile gaming market has
especially high potential, and it has been Sega’s long-term goal to accelerate its
expansion in this field.
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By GlobalData“I am confident that, through combination of both companies’ brands, characters, fanbase, as well as corporate culture and functionality, there will be significant synergies created going forward.”
According to research analyst GlobalData, the global gaming market’s value will reach $238bn in 2023. Mobile gaming will continue to dominate the market, while cloud gaming, esports, and Web3-based games will all gain greater prominence in the gaming sector throughout 2023, according to the analyst.
