Video game company, SEGA has publicly shared its reasoning as to why it bought the Angry Birds developer, Rovio. The company behind Sonic the Hedgehog bought the company for $770 million last month, a purchase so shocking that SEGA’s employees announced their plans to unionize.
The reason for the latest purchase isn’t shocking as you’d hope would be. SEGA’s president and vice-president Haruki Satomi and Koichi Fukazawa appeared at a recent investor Q&A (via ComicBook) and shed light on the recent purchase and claimed it’s so it could “obtain the expertise” that Rovio has in the casual gaming market.
That’s right! It’s not like Microsoft’s purchase of Blizard Activision, which claimed it was to increase its video game library for the Xbox. It’s because SEGA sought to have better reach with a certain section of the video game market and thought that $770 million was worth the cost of admission.
“…Rovio’s titles have been very well received by casual gamers. They own not only Angry Birds, but also a game studio that develops hyper-casual games and thus possesses strengths that our Group does not. Once the acquisition is successfully complete, we expect to be able to obtain such expertise and capabilities.”
Just like Sonic the Hedgehog, Angry Birds received two films in 2016 and 2019. While the first film wasn’t received well by critics and audiences, its sequel managed to score higher on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average score of 73 and 84 percent. Asides from the films, the popular mobile game also has its own TV series.
At the moment, SEGA hasn’t commented if the two companies will join forces to create a brand-new IP using their talents and resources. In the meantime, at least we know that SEGA has made a pretty expensive purchase to broaden their market share. But knowing the revenue that the mobile gaming industry receives per year, this $770 million investment better be worth every penny.