This is Rovio.
Rovio has been making games and entertainment since its establishment in 2003.
After winning an Assembly demo competition in 2003, three university students, Niklas Hed, Jarno Väkeväinen and Kim Dikert start a game company called Relude.
The first angel investor steps in, and Relude changes its name to Rovio, which means 'bonfire' in Finnish. They develop dozens of games for early mobile platforms.
51 games later, near bankruptcy, and in need of a big hit, Rovio develops its 52nd game, Angry Birds, in eight months. Downloads of the game fly to dizzying heights in a matter of weeks and it becomes one of the biggest mobile games and entertainment brand success stories of all time.
The first Angry Birds plush toys are introduced, beginning a legacy of licensed products that would put millions of products on store shelves.
Rovio expands, opening a new studio in Stockholm to develop a top-secret follow-up to the original Angry Birds game. The same year, Angry Birds Friends was launched, becoming a fan favorite that delights players around the globe to this day.
Rovio's first animated series, Angry Birds Toons, premieres in its own streaming platform inside the Angry Birds games.
Angry Birds 2 is released, building on the slingshot gameplay of the original games. Angry Birds 2 is the inaugural game of Rovio's Stockholm Studio.
The Angry Birds Movie is realeased, making it the first film to be based on a mobile game. Boasting a star-studded voice cast, it was a blockbuster hit, opening at number 1 in 50 countries.
The birds were off to never never land in Angry Birds Dream Blast, introducing an all new gameplay style, and some adorable new character designs for the Angry Birds flock along the way.
The Angry Birds Movie 2 comes to theaters. A fan favorite, the movie becomes the highest-rated video game movie on Rotten Tomatoes, and is later much-loved by Netflix subscribers.
A new studio is established in Montreal (Lumi) to explore future opportunities around the next paradigm shifts in gaming and entertainment, and Rovio acquires Darkfire Games, establishing Rovio Copenhagen.
Rovio acquires İzmir, Turkey based game studio, Ruby Games, a studio with expertise in creating high performing hyper-casual games. Elsewhere on the globe, a second Canadian studio is opened in Toronto.
A second studio is established in Montreal (Studio 6) with a fast moving and experimental approach to game making. A sister office to Rovio’s Puzzle Studio opens its doors in Barcelona to aid in the creation of new game content.
Rovio becomes part of the Sega family! Sega Europe makes a bid to acquire over 90% of Rovio’s shares, and the deal is completed in August 2023.
The Rovio family grows: in portfolio, genre mastery, and with studios across Europe and Canada.
Rovio is part of a rich heritage of tech and gaming in the Nordics, with the Finnish gaming industry alone generating €3.2 billion in revenue in 2022.
The gaming industry in the north has shown the world what is possible, not only on mobile devices, but on console, PC, and on emerging technologies like AR and VR.