Angry Birds video game developer to open new office in Barcelona

Finnish video game developer Rovio, known for the ever-popular Angry Birds, will open a new office in Barcelona by June 2023.

The studio, the company's first in southern Europe, will specialize in the development of new experiences, and game levels and mechanics, for which it will hire around 30 new designers, graphic artists, and developers, among others.

The company has "ambitious growth plans," senior director of live operations Matthieu Burleaux claimed, describing the Catalan capital as a "great talent hub" for video games with a time zone "reasonably close" to Finland's. 

Rovio was founded in 2003 and has some 500 employees across the globe, with studios in Stockholm, Copenhagen, Montreal, and Toronto. It also has a subsidiary in Turkey that has been listed on the stock exchange since 2017. 

Rovio's move to Barcelona was supported by ACCIÓ, the Catalan government's trade and investment agency. 

"We will continue to work to attract more investments in this industry, which allows us to attract creative and highly qualified talent," Catalan business minister Roger Torrent said in a statement released on Monday. 

According to a recent ACCIÓ report, there has been more foreign investment in video games in Catalonia than anywhere else in Europe, with €120 million spent on 20 projects that have created almost 900 jobs.