Angry Birds developer Rovio has clipped wings, as profits continue to decline

By Williams Pelegrin March 19, 2015

The birds of the Angry Birds Movie. — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Now a shell of its former self, Angry Birds developer Rovio revealed that, due to a sharp decline in licensing revenue, the company reported a 73 percent drop in operating profits for 2014, according to Reuters.

Rovio reported operating profits of just $10.8 million for 2014, a sharp decrease from 2013’s $39.3 million in operating profits, which was also a huge decline from the $82.7 million in operating profits for 2012. The bad news continued, as Rovio reported a 9 percent decline year-to-year in revenue, down to $171 million.

It wasn’t all bad news for the Angry Birds studio, though. It reported a 16 percent increase in revenue attributable to mobile games of $119.3 million. This increase was thanks to titles like Jolly Jam and Angry Birds Stella.

Rovio hopes to get its licensing business back on its feet with the Angry Birds movie, which is set to premiere in July 2016. “The movie will help us get the licensing business back to growth,” said Rovio CEO Pekka Rantala. “Pretty soon we will be able to publish new major partnership deals.”

Rovio hoped to use the Angry Birds characters as a means to become a big entertainment company, in the same way that Disney is. At this point, however, the company is just trying to remain afloat.

Topics

Williams Pelegrin

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…

Mobile

AT&T just made it a lot easier to upgrade your phone

Do you want to upgrade your phone more than once a year? What about three times a year? Are you on AT&T? If you answered yes to those questions, then AT&T’s new “Next Up Anytime” early upgrade program is made for you. With this add-on, you’ll be able to upgrade your phone three times a year for just $10 extra every month. It will be available starting July 16.

Currently, AT&T has its “Next Up” add-on, which has been available for the past several years. This program costs $6 extra per month and lets you upgrade by trading in your existing phone after at least half of it is paid off. But the new Next Up Anytime option gives you some more flexibility.

Mobile

Motorola is selling unlocked smartphones for just $150 today

Someone holding the Moto G Stylus 5G (2024).

Have you been looking for phone deals but don’t want to spend a ton of money on flagship devices from Apple and Samsung? Have you ever considered investing in an unlocked Motorola? For a limited time, the company is offering a $100 markdown on the Motorola Moto G 5G. It can be yours for just $150, and your days and nights of phone-shopping will finally be over!

Why you should buy the Motorola Moto G 5G
Powered by the Snapdragon 480+ 5G CPU and 4GB of RAM, the Moto G delivers exceptional performance across the board. From UI navigation to apps, games, and camera functions, you can expect fast load times, next to no buffering, and smooth animations. You’ll also get up to 128GB of internal storage that you’ll be able to use for photos, videos, music, and any other mobile content you can store locally.

Mobile

The Nokia 3210 is the worst phone I’ve used in 2024

A person holding the Nokia 3210, showing the screen.

Where do I even start with the Nokia 3210? Not the original, which was one of the coolest phones to own back in a time when Star Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace wasn’t even a thing, but the latest 2024 reissue that has come along to save us all from digital overload, the horror of social media, and the endless distraction that is the modern smartphone.

Except behind this facade of marketing-friendly do-goodery hides a weapon of torture, a device so foul that I’d rather sit through multiple showings of Jar Jar Binks and the gang hopelessly trying to bring back the magic of A New Hope than use it.
The Nokia 3210 really is that bad