Sega Announces Purchase of Angry Birds Developer Rovio

Sega has now confirmed its plans to acquire Angry Birds developer Rovio. Announced today via press release, the deal is worth €706 million, which translates to just under $772 million in U.S. dollars. Sega's aim with the deal is to "accelerate its growth in the global gaming market and increase its corporate value by generating synergies between SEGA's existing businesses and Rovio's strengths, including its global IPs and live-operated mobile game development capabilities."

Original story follows below:

It appears the house of Sonic the Hedgehog could soon become the new nesting ground for Angry Birds. According to reporting from The Wall Street Journal, Sega is set to announce a $1 billion dollar purchase of Rovio Entertainment over the coming days. Following that report, Sega issued a statement denying that any kind of deal has been struck, though the wording of the statement is fairly loose, so it's possible that we could still see an announcement sometime in the near future.

"No formal decision has been made regarding a deal. Sega continues to consider how to best enhance its corporate value," the statement reads.

Rovio was founded in 2003, and worked on a number of different games for PC and mobile devices, including the Nokia N-Gage. The company became a household name in 2009 when it released Angry Birds on iOS and Maemo devices. The game was an immediate success, and Rovio pivoted to predominantly developing new entries in the series. Angry Birds would go on to inspire multiple theatrical films, toys, comic books, and more. Angry Birds has even gotten crossover games with major franchises like Star Wars and Transformers, as well as collaborations with games like Minecraft. While the franchise might not have the same name recognition it once had, Angry Birds continues to receive a steady stream of new releases on multiple platforms.

If Angry Birds does join the Sega family, it will become one of several major brands owned by the company. While Sonic is clearly the biggest, Sega owns the rights to classics like Crazy Taxi, Skies of Arcadia, and Streets of Rage. The latter video game series currently has a big screen adaptation in development, while a third Sonic movie is in the works, as well as a Knuckles streaming series. Sega is clearly looking for a lot of ways to expand its business, and the addition of Rovio could give the company more clout in the mobile market.

Would you like to see Sega acquire Rovio? Are you a fan of the Angry Birds franchise? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!

[H/T: Wario64, Stephen Totilo]