Rovio: Bigger, badder, birdier

Delightful destruction and the arc of Angry Birds

by Gene Jeffers

With origins in the 1980s, the demoscene is a mainly European subculture focused on producing self-contained computer programs that produce AV presentations: demos. It is a competition-oriented subculture, within which groups and individual artists compete for technical and artistic recognition. Two decades ago, after winning a Finnish demoscene competition, three university students (Niklas Hed, Jarno Väkeväinen and Kim Dikert) formed the game company Relude. Investors followed two years later and the name of the firm changed to Rovio (bonfire in Finnish). The team focused on developing games for emerging mobile platforms, but effort after effort saw little commercial success.

Finally, on their 52nd try, Angry Birds lit the Rovio bonfire, quickly becoming one of the biggest mobile games and entertainment brand success stories of all time. Rovio’s arc of success had begun on the hilarious premise of players using a slingshot to launch red birds at green pigs in and around various structures. As players destroy the pigs and advance through the game, new types of birds, some with special abilities, become available. The madness proceeds. Praised by critics for its success at leveraging addictive gameplay for all age groups and delivering visual and contextual humor at a low price point, the Angry Birds brand turned Rovio into a profitable franchise.

As the brand grew stronger, Rovio began to step beyond mobile gaming, offering Angry Birds plush toys, soon to be followed by a range of licensed products. By 2013, the Angry Birds Toons animated feature was streaming on its own channel inside the game. The Angry Birds 2 game followed in 2015 – bigger, badder, birdier than the original. The big screen came next in 2016 with the worldwide theatrical release of the Angry Birds Movie, distinguished as the first film based on a mobile game IP. Two years later, parent company Rovio had achieved 4 billion downloads of its mobile games. In 2019 the Angry Birds Movie 2 was released; it quickly became the highest-rated video game movie on Rotten Tomatoes and is featured on Netflix.

LBE collaborations

“Rovio’s focus has been on making the Angry Birds world more and more accessible to our fans of all ages,” says Katri Chacona, Head of Brand Licensing for Rovio Entertainment. “The massive popularity of the brand created opportunities to work with partners on other family-friendly and profit- making efforts. In recent years we have been growing those partnerships into licensed LBE projects [Location-Based Entertainment], which we see as a key pillar for our future growth and success.”

One of Rovio’s recent forays into the world of LBE was with Topgolf, a driving range game with electronically-tracked golf balls which is currently available in more than 50 locations in the USA and also in Scotland, Germany, Thailand and the UAE. Angry Birds at Topgolf allows players to virtually harness the power of the characters and, using their golf skills, smash down structures with birdies (golf balls), defeat the pigs and earn points in the process. “It was our first effort to create an experience that combines digital and physical, which also feels exciting and personal,” Chacona says. “The Topgolf team was a joy to work with; they were as concerned as we were to properly represent and protect the brand. So much work had to be done to perfect the smallest details and elements.”

Topgolf proved to be an ideal partner, as the two firms worked together to create high quality experiences for all ages that involve joy, physical activity, the sense of accomplishment and victory. “Delightful destruction and humor are at the core of Angry Birds,” says Chacona. “With Topgolf we preserve and promote that core while bringing families together, generating laughter and viral moments that people remember for years.”

Strategic alliances have helped fuel the fires of growth. For a number of years, Rovio worked with consultant George Wade and his company Bay Laurel Advisors on various endeavors, including building a new LBE strategy, and identifying appropriate licensing partners (such as Topgolf). In 2020, IMG was appointed as an exclusive agent for Angry Birds in consumer products and LBE licensing to further grow the business. Explosive success has followed, as the Angry Birds IP can now be found on skateboards, Mercedes Benz E-Class consoles, branded sodas, sports environments and hospitality facilities.

New markets, platforms and merchandise

Recently opened in Flushing, New York, iSwii by Angry Birds is a one-of-a-kind interactive retail and café experience where entire families can immerse themselves in the world of Angry Birds. “This was something entirely new for us,” Chacona says. “We have the one site in New York and would love to grow into new markets.” The 3,300-square-foot café features a collection of Instagrammable NYC-themed statues outside the entrance, a bright mural ceiling with Angry Birds graphics, a vibrant terrazzo counter and flooring resembling dessert sprinkles.

Additional unique Angry Birds-themed elements include nest- like wicker and hanging chairs, bird of paradise graphic wall coverings, and tropical plants on the shelves where baby bird hatchlings wander around. The menu is filled with treats based on the brand’s characters. Baristas offer handcrafted beverages while guests enjoy unique games and adventures filled with their favorite Angry Birds and Bad Piggies. And of course, a variety of branded merchandise is available to purchase and take home.

A brand like Angry Birds offers multiple opportunities for licensed partnerships that can zoom in to specific parts of the brand’s universe and create new content off of existing characters and storylines – content streaming deals with Netflix and Amazon, music licensing, LBE partnerships, merchandise, attractions and rides in theme parks – possibilities abound. “The café is just one of many great ways to present our brand in a very different way, to create a more immersive experience through LBE partnerships,” Chacona explains. “Have a new idea? We are always open to new ideas and partnerships, always looking for where it makes sense, finding and leveraging where there is a natural connection. The key is finding the right partners with the right project.”

A call from Vienna-based Attraktion! led to discussions, a partnership and a deal to create an Angry Birds game option for their new Playneo immersive game installations. “We were looking for IP that would work well for kids and adults in our Playneo installations,” says Markus Beyr, CEO of Attraktion! “Very few IPs work for both, but we knew Angry Birds was very popular across all ages.”

Typically set up in a square or trapezoidal form with four to nine players and one side open for spectator viewing, Playneo Play Cabanas feature a propietary positioning system, which Attraktion! & Playoke (daughter company of Attraktion!) developed during the pandemic. A larger 360-degree version can allow dozens to play at the same time. “Our new system works in any size space, tracking in the 3D environment rather than off the screen,” says Beyr. “This allows for more freedom and more complex installations in the future, like large walk- through experiences.”

Foreseen primarily as ticketed attractions, Playneo installations will offer outstanding audio, video and gaming content. “Watching the Angry Birds movies, we didn’t want mobile game level sound and graphics, but rather wanted to offer cinematic quality for the players,” Beyr explains. “With a lot of help from the Rovio team, we were able to create a high quality Angry Birds game for Playneo in one year. Their team was very positive, excited about creating this game. We never ran into roadblocks on this project, only solutions. They are an amazing licensing partner, very dedicated to going into every detail.”

As a new product, Playneo’s cabanas are already in locations worldwide, their owners and players hungry for new and exciting content. The new game debuted to the industry in September 2023 at IAAPA Expo Europe in Vienna as Angry Birds: Pigvasion; beginning in October, it will be deployed to every existing site and be included on all new Playneo installations.

Testament to the popularity and soaring potential of Angry Birds, Sega recently purchased Rovio for $776 million. Beyond the beloved brand, Rovio’s talented team offers an efficient infrastructure for developing and publishing mobile games.

“Finding partners and projects that immerse our fans in the Angry Birds world keeps us busy, keeps us inspired,” Chacona says. “We want to offer people something a little crazy, a little bit bold. There are no limits to finding new ways to make people laugh and play together. We want to surprise; we want to bring big smiles. We want Angry Birds fans to be committing delightful destruction everywhere.”

Rovio Entertainment Corporation is a global mobile-first games company that creates, develops and publishes mobile games, which have been downloaded over 5 billion times. Rovio is best known for the global Angry Birds brand, which started as a popular mobile game in 2009, and has since evolved from games to various entertainment, animations and consumer products in brand licensing. Rovio has produced The Angry Birds Movie (2016), and its sequel, The Angry Birds Movie 2 was released in 2019. The company offers multiple mobile games and has eight game studios–one in Espoo (Finland), one in Stockholm (Sweden), one in Copenhagen (Denmark), one in Barcelona (Spain), two in Montreal and one in Toronto (Canada). The studios also include a subsidiary in Izmir (Turkey) called Ruby Games, which was acquired in 2021. Most of the employees are based in Finland where Rovio is headquartered. The company’s shares are listed on the main list of NASDAQ Helsinki stock exchange with the trading code ROVIO. Sega Europe Limited has acquired more than 90 percent of all Rovio’s shares and will delist the company from NASDAQ Helsinki stock exchange as soon as permitted under applicable laws. Visit www.rovio.com. •