I’m in Finland for the next few days taking a tour of the country’s tech scene (disclosure: FinnFacts paid for my trip) and you just know I had to visit the Angry Birds’ nest at the Rovio headquarters. Located about 10 minutes away from downtown Helsinki, the Rovio HQ is paradise for anyone who likes Angry Birds.
You can’t go anywhere in Finland’s tech community without hearing Nokia’s name being mentioned, as the handset maker has been powering the country’s economy for the last 15-20 years. But you’re increasingly seeing an entrepreneurial attitude taking place with software companies in large part due to the success of Rovio and Angry Birds.
Rovio made more than 50 games before Angry Birds (many for other publishers) but once the pig-killing game hit the big time, it has continued to build out the franchise in its bid to become a full-on entertainment company. That means it will continue to push the franchise into other platforms and avenues including a cookbook, animated movies and shows and merchandising. Roaming the halls was an interesting experience in Angry Birds gear, as I saw lunch boxes, plush dolls, back packs, balls and real art with the birds on it.
What’s next for Rovio and Angry Birds? Well, the company will push forward with NFC in more devices than the C7. You could imagine a future where waving your NFC-enabled phone next to a Bomb Bird will give you new levels.
We can also expect two new Angry Birds games to land before the end of the year, although Rovio was tight-lipped about how much, if any, the game mechanics will change. It will also make a big push toward adding a social element to the game, in order to help it reach a larger audience than its already-impressive 40 million active monthly users. With a good social game, Rovio is confident that it can double that.
Rovio didn’t say anything about a new game coming that aren’t in the Angry Birds franchise but the company knows that it will have to diversify in order to reach its goal of an IPO. Check out the photos below for a tour of the Rovio HQ.
