New Rovio owner Sega has teased what’s to come from the newly-combined companies, including a crossover Sonic-Angry Birds project and new mobile games based on the Sonic, Yakuza and Persona IP.
Speaking at Google and Rovio’s Roviocon event in Helsinki today, Sega’s coCOO and president of consumer games and transmedia Shuji Utsumi also said that new Angry Birds animated projects are in the works, and that new Rovio games are coming to PC and console.
Utsumi also joked with Rovio’s Angry Birds boss Ben Mattes that the Sonic and Angry Birds IPs were “dating”, with a crossover imminent.
“Sega has a strong portfolio of numerous IPs and characters which becomes much more attractive by welcoming the Angry Birds IP,” Utsumi said. “To maximise the value of these great IPs we have implemented a transmedia strategy which comprehensively approaches a global fanbase through digital and also physical channels.”
“Mobile is a massive platform for us,” he continued. “By combining together with Rovio, Sega is now able to pave the way for global mobile game audiences.”
“Currently, Sega and Rovio have been working on new mobile game projects based on our own IP…but Sonic is not the only IP to benefit from the mobile platform expansion. It will be a potential strong tailwind for other key Sega IP such as Yakuza and Persona.”
Utsumi also expanded upon Sega’s transmedia strategy, referencing Sonic’s success in movies and saying that the company is “already deeply committed to Angry Birds animated projects in the future”.
The Sega exec said the newly-merged entity would also be pushing harder into subscription game services – the likes of Netflix, Apple Arcade and Xbox Game Pass – and also ‘metaverse’ products like Roblox.
Utsumi made a brief reference to “the Segaverse” as he talked loosely around Sega’s ‘super game’ project, which Sega has previously said will “cross over Sega’s comprehensive range of technologies” and “go beyond the traditional framework of games”. He suggested that it would be a Roblox-like platform in which players would be able to communicate and play together.
The Sega exec also joked that Sega “screwed up” with the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie trailer, and later addressed the fanbase outrage at the ‘Ugly Sonic’ trailer: “The first trailer, if you remember, was awful…people ask me if that was intentional…no.”
Sega acquired Rovio earlier this year after Playtika made a surprise bid for the Angry Birds maker in January. (The Playtika bid was not received well at Rovio). That kickstarted a strategic review at Rovio which included discussion of a sale. After negotiations with several bidders, Sega came out on top.
