Highlights: Japanese company Sega will buy Finnish company Rovio, known for its successful mobile video game franchise Angry Birds. Sega's goal is to develop well in mobile video games. Mobile games are seen as a lifeline by the group, which last year achieved an annual turnover of 381.5 billion yen (about 2.6 billion euros) The race to acquire in the video game industry, a widespread practice to stand up to the competition, is well known in the industry. The Chinese giant Tencent had bought Riot Games, the publisher of League of Legends.

Japanese company Sega will buy Finnish company Rovio, known for its successful mobile video game franchise Angry Birds. A takeover that is part of a very specific logic for Sega...

Video games: the Japanese firm Sega buys the Finnish creator Rovio, at the origin of Angry Birds

Sega will buy the Finnish creator of Angry Birds, Rovio Entertainments, the two respective companies announced on April 17, 2023. © AFP/Yuichi Yamazaki

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Japanese company Sega will buy Finnish company Rovio, known for its successful mobile video game franchise Angry Birds. A takeover that is part of a very specific logic for Sega: to survive in this very competitive market, estimated at more than 300 billion dollars.

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Nearly 700 million euros is the amount Sega will spend to afford Rovio, the two companies announced in a joint statement. With this acquisition, the Japanese firm is not only getting its hands on the Angry Birds franchise of the Finnish, which had been a dazzling success in the 2010s. Sega's goal is to develop well in mobile video games.

SEGA to Acquire Rovio Entertainment Oyj

~ Global Expansion of the Consumer Business through Enhancement of Mobile Gaming Capabilities ~

Englishhttps://t.co/RR1lhY0IXr

— セガ公式アカウント 🦔 (@SEGA_OFFICIAL) April 17, 2023

This could well be the way to revive for the huge player of the video game of the 1980s and 1990s that is Sega, at the origin of the blue hedgehog Sonic, and known for its arcade games. The brand had experienced a significant decline with its last home console, the Dreamcast, at the dawn of the 2000s.

► Read also: "Retrogaming": play old video games, at what price?

The race to acquire in the video game industry, a widespread practice to stand up to the competition

Sega will therefore try to keep pace in the crazy acquisition race, well known in the video game industry. Indeed, all the major players in this sector, which would weigh more than 300 billion dollars, are strengthening themselves by buying their competitor.

The Chinese giant Tencent had bought Riot Games, the publisher of League of Legends, one of the flagship games of e-sports competitions. Same thing for Sony which controls a large number of studios. As for Microsoft, the American firm still hopes to get its hands on the Call of Duty franchise, considered a must in first-person shooters (FPS).

Sega hopes to complete the Rovio buyout in the third quarter. On the Helsinki Stock Exchange, Rovio's stock climbed to more than 18% in favor of the deal. With this acquisition, Sega also gets its hands on the Finn's mobile gaming platform, Beacon, says the group. Mobile games are seen as a lifeline by the group, which last year achieved an annual turnover of 381.5 billion yen (about 2.6 billion euros), for a net profit of 31.5 billion yen (214 million euros).

Video games: the Japanese firm Sega buys the Finnish creator Rovio, at the origin of Angry Birds

Video games: the Japanese firm Sega buys the Finnish creator Rovio, at the origin of Angry Birds

The race to acquire in the video game industry, a widespread practice to stand up to the competition

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