SEGA rumoured to buy Angry Birds developer Rovio for $1 billion

According to the Wall Street Journal, Japanese gaming company SEGA is rumoured to be paying $1 billion for Angry Birds developer Rovio Entertainment, and according to sources close to the WSJ, SEGA could close the deal early next week.

Despite the declining popularity of Angry Birds, SEGA is willing to spend such a large sum to acquire Rovio, which was a huge success in 2009, but since its peak in 2014, the series seems to have declined, with Rovio facing declining profits and layoffs.

In 2016, Rovio attempted a film adaptation of Angry Birds, which was poorly received but a box office success and remains the seventh highest-grossing video game film. The 2019 sequel, Angry Birds 2, failed to achieve the same success.

Recently, Rovio removed the original Angry Birds game from the Google Play store and renamed the iOS version Red's First Flight. The move appears to be an attempt to steer players to the lucrative free-to-play sequel and change the game's 'buy once, play forever' business model.

In the past, Rovio was close to an $800 million deal with Israeli developer Playtika, but negotiations broke down. Now SEGA could be the eventual buyer.

Source: Wall Street Journal