A look at SEGA’s weird, possibly brilliant acquisition of ‘Angry Birds’ developer Rovio

wegotthiscovered.com:

When was the last time you played Angry Birds, the seminal Finnish product of emotional avians that dominated our cell phones, tablets, and clocks in the early 2010s? The question could get more specific: did you ever play Angry Birds 2, the 2015 free-to-play (but really pay-to-play) sequel that relied on micro-transactions and time limits to milk players for all they were worth, 99 cents at a time? Have you ever heard about the most recent games, like Angry Birds Blast!, a puzzle game developed by Bandai Namco; or Angry Birds Evolution, a 3D turn-based RPG that apparently grossed $30 million in 2018; or Angry Birds Reloaded, a semi-remake of the 2009 original created for Apple Arcade with extra story? All of this is ignoring the VR games, blatant cash grabs (Angry Birds Rio, anyone?), spin-off titles, myriad cartoons, and two feature films. Heck, the birds have names now, ranging from the simple (Red) to the absurd (Courtney). 

The point is that while we were off living our lives, the fine folks at Rovio Entertainment have been obscenely busy pumping out Angry Birds titles as if their lives depended on it. And that may very well have been the case — the cultural dominance of our fowl friends has seemingly waned as their footprint impossibly grows larger and larger annually. Revenue might have declined this past financial year, but Rovio continues to make a pretty penny on the mobile market, which is something that Japanese developer SEGA hopes will continue to happen. Announced earlier today, SEGA has set in motion the acquisition of Rovio in its entirety, a deal which is projected at roughly $775 million and expected to close by the end of September. 

We are in the age of acquisitions: Microsoft is attempting to close