Angry Birds Maker Rovio Opens New Game Studio in London

Finnish mobile games and animation company Rovio, the maker of Angry Birds, has opened a new game studio in London city. On Monday Rovio Entertainment said it was just a stepping up the hunt for new hit games by launching a studio mainly to focus on new mobile massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) that would not reckon on the brand Angry Birds.

According to a rumor in recent years privately held Rovio has struggled for profits as the Angry Birds franchise dropped, divestments and prompting deep job cuts. Last year Rovio launched an animated 3D Hollywood film on Angry Birds and it said that the movie did well at the box office. This movie created more than $350 million in revenues worldwide. Head of Rovio Entertainment’s game studios, Antti Viitanen said: "Our business is profitably growing, and the time has come for us to grow in numbers too,". Antti also said in a statement “London is the most logical place for us to found a new studio that will complement our overall global mix of internal and external developers. London is also a fantastically diverse talent magnet that has already paid Rovio dividends, as our local consumer products team that is based there has shown.”

Like Supercell’s Clash of Clans the company said they were looking to grow a team of about 20 people in London to focus on online games “massive multiplayer”. Rovio currently has total 400 employees’ total and around 200 people at their four game studios situated in Finland and Sweden. Rovio also works with a number of external studios. Mark Sorrell said in a statement “So we’re starting a studio to do exactly this. We look forward to bringing a diverse team together to deliver unique MMOs that are creative, inclusive, and delightful.”

In the original Angry Birds game where players use a slingshot to attack pigs who steal the bird’s eggs remains the top paid mobile app of all time. Since 2009 Angry Birds game has been downloaded three billion times. Company exploited the brand value early on by licensing its use on a consumer products string. But now with no new hit games and profit dropped the company Rovio slashed more than 300 jobs in 2014 and 2015. Rovio Entertainment booked a small operating worth in the first half of 2016, compared with a loss a year earlier.