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Rovio Entertainment

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Rovio Entertainment
Company typePrivate
IndustryVideo games
Founded2003 (as Relude)
HeadquartersEspoo, Finland
Key people
Mikael Hed, CEO
Harri Koponen, COO
Peter Vesterbacka, CMO
Revenue75.4 million Euros (2011)
48 million Euros (2011)
OwnerKaj Hed (70% owner)
Number of employees
~300 (2011)[1]
Websitewww.rovio.com

Rovio Entertainment, previously known as Relude and Rovio Mobile, is a Finnish video game developer and entertainment company based in Espoo. The company was founded in 2003 as a mobile game development studio named Relude, and in 2005 renamed as Rovio.[2] The company is best known for its video game franchise Angry Birds.

Company history

In 2003, three students from Helsinki University of Technology (currently Aalto University School of Science), Niklas Hed, Jarno Väkeväinen, and Kim Dikert participated in a mobile game development competition at the Assembly demo party sponsored by Nokia and HP. A victory with a real-time multiplayer game called King of the Cabbage World compelled the trio to set up their own company, Relude. King of the Cabbage World was sold to Sumea (now known as Sumea Studios as part of Digital Chocolate), and renamed to Mole War, which became the first commercial real-time multiplayer mobile game in the world.

In January 2005, Relude received its first round of investment from a business angel, and the company changed its name to Rovio Mobile.[citation needed]

In December 2009 Rovio released Angry Birds, a slingshot-puzzle game for the iPhone. Angry Birds has since been downloaded over 1 billion times,[3] with paid downloads accounting for more than 25% of total downloads, making it one of the most sold games in the Apple App Store.

In March 2011 Rovio raised $42 million in venture capital funding from Accel Partners, Atomico and Felicis Ventures.[4]

In July 2011, the company changed its name to Rovio Entertainment Ltd.

In March 2012, Rovio acquired Futuremark Games Studio, the game development division of benchmarking company Futuremark for an undisclosed sum.[5]

In 9 May 2012, Rovio announced that its mobile game sensation Angry Birds had reached its 1 billionth download. The Company's communications officer Sini Matikainen presented in an email: “We are so thankful to all of our fans for their support, and we can’t wait for them to see what we have coming up,”.[6]

In October 2012, Rovio hinted of an Angry Birds Star Wars iteration of its popular game.[7]

Games developed

References

  1. ^ "Roviossa ensi vuonna 600–700 työntekijää". Tekniikka&Talous (in Finnish).
  2. ^ "Rovio - Contact". Rovio. 2010-10-01. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
  3. ^ "Rovio Passes a Billion Angry Birds Downloads, Still Mulling IPO - Ina Fried - Mobile". AllThingsD. 2012-05-09. Retrieved 2012-07-14.
  4. ^ "Angry Birds Turn Rich, Get $42 Million in Funding". Mashable. March 10, 2011.
  5. ^ Ratcliffe, Chris. ""Angry Birds" creator adds Futuremark Game Studio's team to fleet of talent". Bloomberg. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  6. ^ Pan, Joann. "Rovia Rejoices Over Billionth Angry Birds Download". Mashable. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  7. ^ "Oh God, They Really Are Making Angry Birds: Star Wars". UPROXX.
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