Rovio, the company creator of the game 'Angry Birds', opens a headquarters in Barcelona

The Finnish company creator of the mobile game Angry Birds, Rovio, will set up in Barcelona during the first half of 2023 and plans to create about thirty jobs. In this way, the company will open its first studio in Southern Europe in the Catalan capital. Rovio's office in Barcelona will specialize in the development of new experiences, levels, and game mechanics and plans to hire designers, graphic artists, and developers, among other profiles.

Rovio's Senior Director, Matthieu Burleaux, assures that the company has "ambitious growth plans" and highlights the Catalan capital as a "great talent hub" for video games. "We considered many locations, but we chose Barcelona because it is a great talent hub for mobile video games and is also in a time zone reasonably close to Finland," explains Burleraux.

Founded in 2003, the company has a team of over 500 employees spread across different cities worldwide. It has studios in Stockholm (Sweden), Copenhagen (Denmark), Montreal and Toronto (Canada). It also has a subsidiary in Turkey and, since 2017, has been listed on the stock exchange, reports ACN. "Rovio has ambitious growth plans, and having a presence in Southern Europe substantially expands our hiring potential and facilitates the incorporation of talent," notes Burleaux.

The studio will specialize in the development of new experiences, levels, and game mechanics for video games such as Angry Birds Dream Blast and Angry Birds Friends, in coordination with the company's headquarters in Finland. Rovio's mobile games have accumulated over 5 billion downloads. The most famous, Angry Birds, was launched in 2009 and has been evolving ever since.

Rovio's arrival in Barcelona has had the support of Acció, the agency for business competitiveness of the Generalitat. The Minister of Business, Roger Torrent, highlights that Rovio's arrival is an "example of the dynamism that the video game sector is experiencing" in Catalonia. "We will continue working to attract more investments in this area, which allows us to attract creative and highly qualified talent," defends Torrent.

It is worth remembering that, according to a study by Acció, Catalonia is the first region in the European Union in attracting foreign investment in the video game sector. The report details that in the last five years, 20 new projects have been attracted, which have involved an investment of 120 million euros and the creation of almost 900 jobs. Rovio's project joins those recently carried out by other companies in the video game sector, such as the Danish IO Interactive, which will create 150 new jobs in the next four years at its Barcelona studio.