14 DAY TRIAL // The launch of Angry Birds: Space is a big event for those who like their video games mobile and in bite sizes, but soon all gamers might be watching the actions of developer and publisher Rovio considering that it plans to be much bigger than Disney.
At the moment Disney is apparently worth about 24 billion dollars (18.12 billion Euro) while Rovio is valued at around 8 billion dollars (6.05 billion Euro) and plans to launch an Initial Public Offering at some point next year.
Speaking to Business Insider, Peter Vesterbacka, who is the chief executive officer working at Rovio, has stated, “It’s not just the launch of a game, it’s the launch of a franchise. It’s bigger than most movie launches in Hollywood. Rovio is one of the first brands to launch from the digital to the physical world.
“Zynga is a game company. We stopped looking at ourselves as a game company. We sold 25 million plush toys last year. For us, it’s about making Angry Birds available everywhere.”
The executive believes that the fact that Angry Birds is copied by so many counterfeiters is a clear sign of its success all over the world.
He added, “You go shopping in China, you see Angry Birds everywhere. We are the most copied brand in China, which means we are the most loved brand. We aren’t advocating piracy but we have millions of Chinese people who love Angry Birds.”
At the moment Rovio is mostly focused on video game experiences on mobile devices, but its leaders have suggested that in the near future it will also target home consoles and the PC, aiming to become a rival to publishers with more traditional business models like Electronic Arts and Activision Blizzard.
Now the company’s chief vulnerability is that it relies chiefly on the Angry Birds franchise although it has plans to develop other titles.