Rovio History

This is Rovio.

Page rovio-history

Our history.

Rovio has been making games and entertainment since its establishment in 2003.

  • 2003

    The Finnish demoscene sparks Relude

    After winning an Assembly demo competition in 2003, three university students, Niklas Hed, Jarno Väkeväinen and Kim Dikert start a game company called Relude.

  • 2005

    From Relude to Rovio.

    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.

  • 2009

    The 52nd game

    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.

    Watch the original trailer!

  • 2010

    Beyond games

    The first Angry Birds plush toys are introduced, beginning a legacy of licensed products that would put millions of products on store shelves.

  • 2012

    Growing wings

    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 Stockholm studio

  • 2013

    Getting animated

    Rovio's first animated series, Angry Birds Toons, premieres in its own streaming platform inside the Angry Birds games.

  • 2015

    Bigger, badder, birdier.

    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.

    View game

  • 2016

    Off to Hollywood

    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.

    Angry Birds Movie trailer

  • 2018

    Dreaming Big!

    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.

    View Game

  • 2019

    Sequel success

    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.

    Watch the trailer!

  • 2020

    New Horizons

    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.

    Our Game Studios

  • 2021

    Branching Out

    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.

    Our Game Studios

  • 2022

    Hatching in New Locations

    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.

    Our Game Studios

  • 2023

    Red Meets Blue

    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.

    Read more

  • Today

    About 500 employees. Over 50 nationalities.

    The Rovio family grows: in portfolio, genre mastery, and with studios across Europe and Canada.

  • Next

    Help us build the future

    See open positions

Heritage in tech and gaming

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.

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