Rumor: Angry Birds may be worth $1.2 billion in entertainment explosion deal

by Jessica Conditt on Aug 13th 2011 8:30PM

Angry Birds developer Rovio is out to prove money really can't buy happiness, with a deal to receive funding that would make the company worth $1.2 billion, Bloomberg rumors. Rovio wants to expand the explosive brand into other entertainment sectors, including making an Angry Birds movie and selling the game and its products in China, which may explain talks with an entertainment company, as revealed by Bloomberg's two anonymous sources.

Michael Pachter pegs EA, Zynga and Walt Disney as likely candidates to do a deal with Rovio, as Disney could make Angry Birds a movie and theme park, and Zynga could turn it into Farmville. While one of those sounds immensely more appealing to us (Angry Bird Slingshot ride, anyone?), either are easily possible, even if more than $1 billion seems a bit much to pay for a phone app.

Via: Gamasutra
Source: Bloomberg

Tags: angry-birds, angry-birds-movie, disney, EA, mobile, movies, one-billion-dollars, pc, Rovio, Zynga

Reader Comments (68)

Oh lord. If there is one game that I never understood it's success is angry bird. Simply because it's basically a slingshot game, with birds. I had fun with it about 5 minutes.

@SpecBlank

Angry Birds is one of the few mobile games thats actually fun, and they actually take the time to do updates a lot. But yes, it seems its success is over the top.

@SpecBlank I think the point is that everyone had fun for five minutes... on 300 separate occasions.

@SpecBlank Yeah, the "creators" of Snood must be kicking themselves.

If this teaches us anything, it's that things are only really worth what they're marketed to be worth.

@Once known as Shadsy

I understand that. I was just pointing out how I had fun with it for only 5 minutes, and never played it again.

@jph89

I can think of a few more smartphone/tablet/iPod games that are just as fun:

Cut the Rope
Infinity Blade
Dead Space
Need for Speed (all versions)
Asphalt (all versions)

@tendoboy1984

No to all of those IMO. Infinity Blade in particular is highly overrated.

@tendoboy1984

Don't like cut the rope, HATE Infinity Blade, NFS and Dead Space are much better on console, and don't like asphalt.

My list would be:

1. Impossible game
2. Tilt to live
3. Light Bike
4. World of Goo

And thats really about it for mobil

@SpecBlank The only reason I don't understand it is that it's a blatant ripoff/reskin of Crush the Castle, and yet nobody notices. Do they not know what newgrounds is or how they could play games just as good if not better completely free instead of tossing Rovio their money?

@Jetleo1

IMO Angry Birds is better than CtC. Not to mention they haven't even bothered with a proper iPad version. And anything that is on Newgrounds that isn't an app is worthless to many mobile users since those games are Flash based.

@SpecBlank I've said it before, I'll say it again: Whether or not you understand Angry Birds depends entirely on how long it takes you to do a #2. If you're the type to take a very long time, it's a great diversion as you do the duty. If you take brief dumps, then it's really not going to make much of an impact.

As someone whose toilet duties are brief, I'm not a fan, and I imagine you don't tie up the bathroom very long either since you don't get it.

I still don't get it how such a simple game explode to become this crazy popular.

@glemtvapen
Apple was probably helping to support them behind the scenes.

This angry birds fad will die soon anyway.

Brb, going to burn myself alive.

@King Johngie the Fourth

lol'd hard

Ugh.

This game sucks and its overrated. I don't care if i get down-voted this game is crap

So... no one likes this game? ;)

I thought I was alone. Every time I go out in the "real world", that is all I see people playing. :-\

@Reggie FilsAime
Funny how when I was younger, I wanted everyone to enjoy my hobby (video games). Now it seems like that came true, unfortunately video games have changed since then. I asked my one friend yesterday why she loves Angry Birds so much and she mentioned that the little sounds the birds make always keeps her going.

I really feel out of place nowadays. :(

Help, Reggie! My body is ready!

It's a fun game, but nothing extraordinary or new. Platforms are just grabbing onto it for the name and likeness of the IP rather than its quality.

@Arsenic13

This. Angry Birds isn't new at all. The concept has been done many times before. The only reason it's so successful is because casual gamers think it's cute. :)

@tendoboy1984

That's the point. You don't have to be original to be good or popular. Just do it better.

@Vidikron The problem is Angry Birds didn't do it better...if I had to go with Crush The Castle or Angry Birds, CTC wins. So I guess the only explanation is the average person likes cartoon graphics :/

@Jetleo1

CtC is in no way better. Not even close IMO. And who cares if people like the look of AG better??? These are VIDEO games! CtC is on the iPhone, but has failed to capture the same audience as AG. That's CtC's fault, not AG's.

I'm still willing to bet that this time next year Angry Birds will just be another passed fad. I kinda hope they build all these theme parks just so they lose a tonne of money when no-one visits them.

@Hank Hill

Exactly. I hope someone is stupid enough to make this investment because the troll-side of me loves laughing at others' misfortune.

If they would make that RoosterTeeth Angry Birds spoof trailer into a full length film, I'd pay to see it. Otherwise, no thanks.

Two years later, we won't remember what Angry Birds is.
In fact, "Wabbajack: THE GAME" will be the all new IT thing!

I couldn`t care less for Angry Birds when I can have nostalgia cream in my pants by playing my old pokemon games.

@DrummingJon
...ew.

@The Only Girl

...eww, but still funny.

I think one of the reasons Angry Birds is so popular is that it's extremely marketable. It's geared towards younger kids, but has a graphical charm and good gameplay that can be appreciated by all ages. The characters have simplistic, but memorable features that further promote brand recognition.

Basically, AB is the Mario of mobile gaming. I'm extremely impressed by how well Rovio has dominated the market.

@EliminatorZigma

Nope. It's successful because of ad placement and being able to make money even in a free form.

It's like the latest wave of Internet fads. It's about selling ads, not selling a product. All the "charm" of Angry Birds has been done a billion times before in better games. But they didn't display ads IN GAME.

Given another year, the "value" will deflate as smartphone saturation peaks.

@CaptainProtonX

"as smartphone saturation peaks"

Android has already accomplished this.

@CaptainProtonX

That's utter nonsense. Ads only work if people are playing the game. Claiming it's successful because of the ads is putting the cart before horse and simply makes no sense.

How is everything worth billions of dollars now? Zynga? Facebook? Angry Birds? Seriously, how can we be in a recession when everything is worth billions?

This has to be a crock. There's no way Angry Birds, a single iPhone game, is worth more than Popcap...

This game was cooler when it was called Boom Blox

@deaftly And that was even cooler back in the days of Crush the Castle. Triple Bombs FTW.

Gotta admit I like to play Angry Birds for 5 minutes now and then. But that doesn't mean that I want to see a movie about it or play AngryVille on facebook.

I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

@(Unverified)

As long as Ferby is still cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4CVlADc-6I

Guys, I'm really looking forward to this! This is going to be a really good thing! The Angry Birds movie and an Angry Birds theme park!? What better way to say "We have a successful franchise!" than doing both of those?

I hope they make both of them and they are total train-wrecks and lose them a ton of money. Maybe then they'll realize that it's just another phone-app. That would be the best thing that could come out of this. This is totally a good thing if you look at it the right way.

Do people actually keep playing this game over and over? I assumed it is just another situation like the Wii, meaning that people buy it because it has become a thing and everyone says that they like it in casual social situations, but in reality people barely ever play it.

@trent82

I'll be completely honest, i don't think I've launched Angry Birds this calender year on my iPad/iPhone.

@trent82

hey! what, I play my wii all the time. just today I spent playing mariokart with my friend for an hour or two and burned a couple more on monster hunter. my xbox is the ontouched console.

Angry Birds is a shining example of "you can sell crap if you advertise it enough"

1.2 billion? Popcap wasn't sold for that much and they have a CATALOG of games.

How can this company be worth 1.2 billion based on one franchise? Especially since the franchise is well within the final stages of it's life.

@Polymorphic Ninja

How do you come to the conclusion that it's "well within" the final stages? As of right now all 3 iterations of the game are in the top 10 of both the iPhone and iPad charts on iTunes.

@Vidikron
Depends how you measure the top 10? Don't be misled by the chart.

Rovio was at the right place at the right time. They released a quality game at a time when qualities games were rare on the platform. Some may argue that is true today as well.

As of today, Angry Birds is #1 in the US. Don't you find it a bit odd that Angry Birds would sit at #1, but all its iterations fall off the chart within a few weeks of release? Where is Angry Birds Rio? Seasons is on there, but why isn't it consistently ranked above or next to Angry Birds since it's presumably a newer product?

Rock band and Guitar Hero had legs for a few good years. But Angry Birds is in grave danger of over-exposure and its lack of anything new other than slightly improved graphics is not going to let it live forever. It's like the John Madden of casual games, but I would be very surprised if it has a fan base as willing to put up with it.

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Angry Birds

Rumor: Angry Birds may be worth $1.2 billion in entertainment explosion deal

Reader Comments (68)

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 8:35PM SpecBlank said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 8:56PM jph89 said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 8:58PM Once known as Shadsy said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 9:13PM onan said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 9:24PM SpecBlank said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 11:22PM tendoboy1984 said

Posted: Aug 14th 2011 12:04AM Vidikron said

Posted: Aug 14th 2011 12:11AM jph89 said

Posted: Aug 14th 2011 10:09AM Jetleo1 said

Posted: Aug 14th 2011 1:10PM Vidikron said

Posted: Aug 14th 2011 6:18PM SynthOno said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 8:35PM glemtvapen said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 10:41PM Reen said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 8:37PM King Johngie the Fourth said

Posted: Aug 14th 2011 8:08AM IAmTheBabyJeezus said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 8:40PM whatisdelicious said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 8:42PM psnshe69mee said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 8:45PM Dao Jones said

Posted: Aug 15th 2011 9:19AM Dao Jones said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 8:46PM Arsenic13 said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 11:24PM tendoboy1984 said

Posted: Aug 14th 2011 12:05AM Vidikron said

Posted: Aug 14th 2011 10:10AM Jetleo1 said

Posted: Aug 14th 2011 1:12PM Vidikron said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 8:52PM Hank Hill said

Posted: Aug 14th 2011 2:42PM Lone Starr said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 8:55PM Schlecht said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 8:57PM The Only Girl said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 9:20PM DrummingJon said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 9:34PM The Only Girl said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 11:25PM tendoboy1984 said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 9:24PM EliminatorZigma said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 9:34PM CaptainProtonX said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 11:26PM tendoboy1984 said

Posted: Aug 14th 2011 12:07AM Vidikron said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 9:24PM DaDiddles said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 9:29PM deaftly said

Posted: Aug 14th 2011 10:13AM Jetleo1 said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 9:31PM Pure Black World Tendency said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 9:51PM mguniverse said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 9:53PM jph89 said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 9:55PM Marshillboy said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 10:40PM Ospov said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 11:36PM trent82 said

Posted: Aug 14th 2011 12:13AM jph89 said

Posted: Aug 14th 2011 2:29PM AntiVillian said

Posted: Aug 13th 2011 11:38PM Gmail Calendar Rep said

Posted: Aug 14th 2011 1:10AM Polymorphic Ninja said

Posted: Aug 14th 2011 1:39AM Vidikron said

Posted: Aug 14th 2011 7:17PM Polymorphic Ninja said

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