What simply occurred? Sonic will quickly have some new avian pals to mingle with as Sega has agreed to buy Offended Birds maker Rovio Leisure. The Japanese online game big is paying 9.25 euro per share and 1.48 euro per choice for Rovio, which works out to a complete of roughly 706 million euro or round $772 million. The acquisition value represents roughly a 19 p.c premium over Rovio’s closing value final Friday however is way from what a sale at an earlier date might have introduced.
In the course of the top of Offended Hen insanity in 2012, Rovio reportedly turned down a $2 billion acquisition provide from Zynga.
The 2 sides described the acquisition as a pleasant takeover, and one which Rovio’s board has already agreed to. Ought to all the things go in line with plan, the deal is anticipated to shut later this yr.
The Finnish recreation studio was based in 2003 as Relude earlier than altering its identify to Rovio Cellular a few years later. Rovio labored on loads of video games in its early days however its breakout title, Offended Birds, would change the corporate’s trajectory and the course of cellular gaming perpetually.
The physics-based title debuted simply as cellular gaming was beginning to take root, and was among the many first main titles to experiment with the free-to-play ad-supported mannequin when it was ported to Android. The sport’s unbelievable success spawned a complete franchise of video games, cartoons, films, merchandise and extra that continues to this present day.
The unique Offended Birds is considered one of 12 finalists vying for a spot within the 2023 World Video Sport Corridor of Fame.
Sega goals to leverage Rovio’s experience in reside service cellular recreation operation via its Beacon service to deliver new and current titles to market. Cross-platform growth of Rovio video games utilizing Sega’s know-how can be within the playing cards, and you may make certain the 2 sides will commerce recommendations on learn how to higher leverage current IP for max publicity and revenue.
