Angry Birds developer Rovio’s earnings fell in 2014, even as their popular mascots continued to fly onto the screens of mobile devices everywhere.
CNET:
The Finland-based company posted earnings before interest and taxes of just 10 million euros (about $10.7 million) in 2014, down significantly from the 36.5 million euros the company generated in 2013. Revenue tumbled from 173.5 million euros in 2013 to 158.3 million euros in 2014.
Rovio grabbed the spotlight in 2009 with the release of their Angry Birds game for mobile devices, including the iPhone. The game, still one of the most popular in the world, allows gamers to destroy structures by slingshotting their way through a pig-inhabited world.
The original Angry Birds game was so popular, Rovio continued to milk the cow, (crack the eggs?), and followed up the original game with Angry Birds Seasons in 2010; Angry Birds Rio in 2011; Angry Birds Space, Angry Birds Star Wars and Bad Piggies in 2012; Angry Birds Friends, Angry Birds Star Wars II and Angry Birds Go in 2013; and Angry Birds Epic, Angry Birds Stella and Angry Birds Transformers in 2014. (WHEW!) The company will soon release its first title developed specifically for Japan, called Angry Birds Fight.
In addition, Rovio also began marketing a wide range of licensed consumer goods, such as plush toys, candy, and more. They even started up an Angry Birds cartoon channel and film studio.
Rovio’s focus on said consumer goods led to their rough 2014 earnings picture, as revenue in its “consumer products” category fell from 73.1 million euros in 2013 to 41.4 million in 2014. Rovio’s games division continued to perform well, grabbing up 110.7 million euros in 2014 compared with 95.2 million in 2013. The Angry Bird-maker saw almost 600 million downloads of its games in 2014.
Rovio indicated in December 2014 that not all was rosy in the Angry Birds world, announcing a layoff of 110 employees out of its global workforce of 800 people. The company also closed a game development studio in Tampere, Finland.
Rovio CEO Pekka Rantala said on Thursday that he feels “very good” about his company’s future, and is hoping for big things from the company’s next big project, an Angry Birds feature film. The computer-animated film, to be distributed by Columbia Pictures, will feature the vocal talents of Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad and Peter Dinklage. The movie’s premiere is scheduled for May 2016.
