This merger between Sonic and Angry Birds is unexpected but not improbable, as mobile remains at the center of the growth strategy of many major publishers. The hostilities began in 2016 when Activision Blizzard and Tencent engulfed King (for 6 billion dollars) and Supercell (for 7.5 billion euros) respectively. In 2021, Electronic Arts in turn strengthened its presence in mobile with the acquisition of Glu for 2 billion dollars, before Take-Two struck a blow by spending 12.7 billion dollars to integrate Zynga into its organization. in 2022. According to Microsoft, even the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard would also be largely motivated by the group’s expansion plans towards mobile.
The fable of the bird and the hedgehog
Sega itself is obviously far from being a newcomer to the mobile sector, with iOS and Android free-to-play already accounting for a considerable portion of its video game revenue each year. In addition to Japanese productions such as Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage, Fist of the North Star, Puyo Puyo Quest and Shin Megami Tensei Liberation Dx2, Western subsidiaries have also dipped into mobile with Sonic Dash, Sonic Racing, Sega Pocket Club Manager or Football Mobile Manager. In this context, the acquisition of Rovio aims to further expand Sega’s position in a sector that is still growing, a sector in which companies still have an easy expense. ” The mobile video game market is expected to experience an annual growth rate of 5% and to represent 56% of the global market in 2023, compared to 53% in 2022 “, justifies Sega based on an IDG study dating from last October.
This acquisition takes the form of a friendly takeover bid that Rovio’s board of directors has accepted on the basis of 9.25 euros per share. An interesting choice since, earlier this year, the Finnish studio had refused to join the Israeli mobile company Playtika, which had made it an offer of 800 million dollars, an amount slightly higher than that offered by Sega. But for a group that has always struggled to impose other licenses than its famous birds, being part of Sega certainly opened up much more attractive prospects in terms of synergies.
healthy anger
Rovio will therefore become a subsidiary of Sega Europe and bring Angry Birds into the great repertoire of franchises controlled by Sega. A franchise which must also make its return to the cinema as part of a 3rd film, knowing that the two previous feature films have still accumulated 500 million dollars at the box office. A detail that counts for Sega, itself proud to have successfully exported its Sonic franchise to the cinema as well as in various animated series.
For Sega, this acquisition is undoubtedly the most significant since those of The Creative Assembly in 2005 and Atlus in 2013. In good economic health with a particularly strong and stable turnover since 2017 (around 300 million euros annually), Rovio boasts more than 5 billion downloads but also more than 6 million players every day and an ever-valuable mobile expertise. By welcoming Rovio, Sega is also getting its hands on Beacon, its development tool specializing in the monetization of game-services.
” As part of its growth strategy to invest up to 250 billion yen over the five-year period ending in March 2026, Sega has explored investment opportunities to strengthen its development capabilities and create new ecosystems “, Can we read in the press release from Sega. The acquisition, which as always will have to be reviewed by regulators, is expected to be finalized during the second quarter of Sega’s fiscal year, between July and September 2023.
” Red and Sonic: two iconic and globally recognized characters, created by two remarkably complementary companies, with a global reach that spans mobile, PC/console and beyond. Combining the strengths of Rovio and Sega paves the way for an incredibly bright future says Alexandre Pelletier-Normand, CEO of Rovio.