Sega buying Angry Birds maker Rovio for $1 billion, WSJ reports

The Wall Street Journal announced on Friday that Sega Sammy Holdings’ parent company Sega Sammy is in the final stages of a deal for Rovio to buy Rovio entertainment, the Finnish game developer behind Angry Birds. The deal will be worth about $1 billion. Journal reports that this deal could close next week.

Rovio’s best-known features include Angry BirdsThe iOS version of the 2009 physics-puzzle game was released in 2009. Rovio is known for its many sequels, spin-offs and other tie-ins to brands such as Star Wars, Transformers and the animated film Rio. Sega partnered with Rovio in 2015 to introduce Sonic the Hedgehog character to Angry Birds EpicThe game is a RPG with a turn system. Angry Birds-themed animated shows and feature films have also been released.

Angry Birds’ global success hasn’t translated to Rovio’s other games, which include action-role-playing game Darkfire HeroesColorful matching Games Small Town MurdersYou can also find out more about the following: Sugar Blast. Sega’s current mobile game lineup includes a variety of Sonic the Hedgehog running games and retro games from the Sega Genesis era.

Sega’s acquisition of Rovio would make it yet another major publisher acquiring a mobile studio worth billions. Electronic Arts purchased Glu Mobile in 2021 for $2.4 Billion and Playdemic at $1.4 Billion. Take-Two Interactive will spend $12.7 Billion on Zynga in 2022. Microsoft wants to close its acquisition. Candy CrushMaker King will be acquiring Activision Blizzard for $68.7 Billion this year.