Wed, Mar 21, 2012 | 22:13 GMT
Rovio aims to be “much bigger” than Disney
Rovio has transitioned from casual games developer to a full blown cultural force, and doesn’t intend to stop.
According to Business Insider, chief managing officer Peter Vesterbacka said Rovio’ss goal is to be “much bigger” than its role model, Disney – a $24 billion media company.
Vesterbacka highlighted the launch of Angry Birds Space as one example of the cross-media push Rovio expects to power this growth.
“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,” he said.
“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 noted that Rovio looks on its copycats as indicators of success.
“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,” he said.
“We aren’t advocating piracy but we have millions of Chinese people who love Angry Birds.”
6 
Posted in: Android, Casual, iPad, iPhone
Tags: Angry Birds, angry birds space, Peter Vesterbacka, rovio
6 comments
#1
HighWindXIX
21/03/12, 10:58 pm
These people are clinically insane. In 50 years I guarantee no one will still be talking about Angry Birds.
#2
DSB
21/03/12, 11:07 pm
Yeah, that’s quite insane. Oasis thought they were bigger than the Beatles. Last I heard they were giving handjobs behind the cornerstore for a 5′er.
Winning the infancy of mobile gaming says nothing for how you do down the road.
#3
fearmonkey
21/03/12, 11:16 pm
@2 – I chuckled heartily at the Oasis comment, thank you for that.
#4
theBEAST137
22/03/12, 12:30 am
“Yes, that is correct. Our franchise of 3 (about to be 4) games and merchandise that has been going for almost 3 years has earned more money than most movies do in 3 days.”
I mean really, Rovio. How naive can you be? You had one successful franchise. Whoop-de-doo. You can only ride off of that success for so long. You know why Disney is so big now? They went from Mickey Mouse and expanded into feature length films, plus they bought tons of other branches that were unrelated to their cartoons. Are you going to buy a company as big as Marvel or ESPN?
Make more money; make more (different) games; make good decisions. Don’t talk a mad game at this point, as it will only lead to your destruction in the long-run. Too much hubris…
#5
mistermogul
22/03/12, 7:40 am
These buttheads have let success go to their heads which is no placed snugly up their asses!
#6
sg1974
22/03/12, 10:41 pm
Can you say “market bubble”? Rovio are run by a bunch of shiny-suited spivs looking to make a quick mega-fortune before bailing ahead of the inevitable crash.