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Nicholas Lovell
Home   >   Analysis and Opinion   >   Analysis   >   1.7 billion downloads and you only make 152 million euros in revenue?

1.7 billion downloads and you only make 152 million euros in revenue?

By on April 3, 2013

Angry Birds maker Rovio today revealed some financial figures, as reported in the Guardian.

  • EUR152.2 million in revenue

  • EUR55.5m in net profit

  • 45% of revenue from consumer products such as plush toys (EUR68.5m)

  • 1.7 billion downloads of Angry Birds games on all platforms

  • Headcount of 518 people

  • 263m MAUs in December 2012

Analysis

  • The  margin of 37% is impressive, but way down from its high of nearly 90% in the early days of Angry Birds’ success. It is also a surprisingly low total revenue for the game that everyone in the traditional media world seems to want to emulate.
  • The average revenue per user is surprisingly low. On a monthly basis (assuming revenue is spread evenly through the year, which it probably isn’t), Rovio is making EUR12.6m. It has 263 million active users, giving it an average revenue per user (on a monthly basis) of 5 Euro cents. If you strip out the merchandising revenue, that figure drops to 2.7 cents.
  • The company is growing very fast (headcount more than doubling in 2012). That’s new investment, but they are currently milking an existing franchise over and over.

Rovio has one of the most recognisable gaming brands in the world, yet is only generating EUR 152 million in revenue. Meanwhile, dinosaur Activision has launched and built Skylanders into a billion dollar franchise in just 15 months.

I continue to think that Rovio is a very dangerous example for the rest of the industry to aspire to.

About Nicholas Lovell

Nicholas is the founder of Gamesbrief, a blog dedicated to the business of games. It aims to be informative, authoritative and above all helpful to developers grappling with business strategy. He is the author of a growing list of books about making money in the games industry and other digital media, including How to Publish a Game and Design Rules for Free-to-Play Games, and Penguin-published title The Curve: thecurveonline.com