'Angry Birds' game company to be sold for $1 billion

According to WSJ , if nothing changes, Sega Sammy Holdings will reach an agreement to acquire the company that owns the mobile game “Angry Birds” this week.

Sega Sammy, a Japan-based entertainment conglomerate, was formed in 2004 through the merger of slot machine company Sammy Corp and video game maker Sega. The group offers a range of entertainment products including arcade games, toys and animated video content.

Angry Birds is the first mobile game to reach 1 billion downloads

“Angry Birds” is one of the pioneering mobile games, with simple but addictive gameplay, released in 2009, when smartphones were still in their infancy. It was the first mobile game to reach 1 billion downloads, and last year it reached 5 billion downloads.

Rovio, based and listed in Finland, has released several sequels to the game and even made a TV series. However, the company has failed to replicate the success of “Angry Birds” in subsequent titles and has been overshadowed by new competitors in recent years.

Prior to negotiating with Sega, Rovio was said to have approached Playtika Holding, a rival company based in Israel, for $800 million, but no agreement was reached.

Global consumer spending on mobile games fell 6.4% last year to $92.2 billion, according to Newzoo BV . The sector’s decline, following a pandemic-era boom, has fueled mergers and acquisitions in an already buoyant market.

Last year, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc agreed to buy FarmVille game maker Zynga for $11 billion. Microsoft also reached a deal worth up to $75 billion to acquire Activision Blizzard Inc, the company that owns the Call of Duty and Candy Crush franchises. Also in 2022, Sony Corp agreed to buy Bungie, the studio that created the Halo and Destiny series, for about $3.6 billion.

The WSJ

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