Rovio, the Finnish mobile games company, is opening a studio in London that will focus on developing “massive multiplayer online” games as it seeks to reduce its dependence on its fading Angry Birds franchise.
The company said it chose London after considering and rejecting several other European locations in what is being seen as another vote of confidence in the British economy after the Brexit vote.
“We had a long list of other cities, but it was clear that London is where things happen in the gaming industry. There is such a blend of talent and nationalities in London and we don’t think that Brexit will change that,” Kaisu Karvala, a spokeswoman for the company, said.
Rovio’s decision to pick London and target mass-player online gaming follows the announcement last week from Snap, the company behind Snapchat, the photo-messaging app, that it will make London its international headquarters.
Rovio, which is privately held, already has a small office near Oxford Circus and is seeking to recruit 20 people, including coders, developers and animators. Its London studio joins four other in-house studios — three in Espoo, Finland and one in Stockholm, Sweden — as well a global network of external partner developers.
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The company had a hit with Angry Birds, which was released in December 2009, but subsequently struggled to repeat this success in the face of competition from a new generation of mobile games makers. Last year it had a hit with an animated Angry Birds 3D Hollywood film that made $350 million at the box office and yielded new licensing deals.
Mark Sorrell, head of studio at the company, said he now believed that MMOs were the way forward for the industry.
“We believe that the best game experiences are those that you share with other people,” he said. “So we’re starting a studio to do exactly this. We look forward to bringing a diverse team together to deliver unique MMOs that are creative, inclusive and delightful.”