What You Missed This Week in Video Games

‘Minecraft Legends,’ ‘Advance Wars’ remakes out this week

"Game On" is The Fly’s weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.

NEW RELEASES: A number of high-profile video games will release this week, most notably Xbox Game Studios’ (MSFT) "Minecraft Legends," an action-strategy game in the "Minecraft" franchise. The game launches April 18 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch (NTDOY), PC, PlayStation 4 (SONY), and PS5. Also out this week is Sony’s "Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores," a downloadable expansion to last year’s "Horizon Forbidden West" that rolls out exclusively for PS5 on April 19.

Meanwhile, Embracer’s (THQQF) action role-playing game "Dead Island 2" launches April 21 for PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, while Riot’s (TCEHY) "The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story" comes out April 18 for PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch. Finally, Nintendo’s "Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp," a turn-based strategy game collection, launches April 21 exclusively on Switch.

SEGA/ROVIO: Sega (SGAMY) announced this week that it resolved to implement a tender offer to acquire "Angry Birds" developer Rovio Entertainment Oyj, a mobile game company headquartered in Finland, through Sega’s wholly-owned UK subsidiary Sega Europe Limited and Sega Sammy Holdings has entered into a definitive agreement with Rovio pursuant to which the Tender Offer is made. Through the Tender Offer, Sega aims to acquire the entirety of Rovio’s outstanding shares and options at EUR 9.25 per share and EUR 1.48 per option, or EUR 706M in total. The acquisition is a friendly takeover, as Rovio’s board of directors has agreed to, and has expressed support towards the Tender Offer. Shareholders in Rovio who in aggregate hold shares corresponding to approximately 49.1% of the outstanding shares and votes in Rovio, have irrevocably undertaken to accept the offer, subject to certain customary conditions. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of FY2024/3 and is contingent on the completion of reviews under applicable antitrust laws and other customary conditions.

"Among the rapidly growing global gaming market, the mobile gaming market has especially high potential, and it has been SEGA’s long-term goal to accelerate its expansion in this field," said Sega Sammy president and group CEO Haruki Satomi. "I feel blessed to be able to announce such a transaction with Rovio, a company that owns "Angry Birds", which is loved across the world, and home to many skilled employees that support the company’s industry leading mobile game development and operating capabilities. Historically, as represented by the "Sonic the Hedgehog" series, SEGA has released countless video game titles to various gaming platforms. I am confident that, through combination of both companies’ brands, characters, fanbase, as well as corporate culture and functionality, there will be significant synergies created going forward."

‘MARIO’ GAME SALES JUMP IN U.K.: In the wake of Universal’s (CMCSA) hit film "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," three titles from the popular Nintendo franchise are in the U.K.’s top ten in physical video game sales, Gamesindustry.biz’s Christopher Dring reported that the title would be delayed in order to further polish the experience. The Fly notes that the news from Schreier followed a PlayStation State of Play event, during which "Suicide Squad" was the main showcase title. The gameplay that Rocksteady showed received negative reactions by players and critics alike.

OTHER STORIES TO WATCH:

• South Africa’s Competition Commission has approved Microsoft’s proposed takeover of Activision Blizzard (ATVI) [read more]
• Former "Halo Infinite" creative head Joseph Staten has joined Netflix Games (NFLX) to work on a new AAA multiplatform game [read more]
• Take-Two (TTWO) chairman Strauss Zelnick disclosed the sale of $8.3M in company shares this week [read more]
• Ubisoft+ (UBSFY) officially released on Xbox consoles last week [read more]
• Warner Bros. unveiled a new "Harry Potter" multiplayer game [read more]
• Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment bought 484,000 shares of Roblox (RBLX) on Monday [read more]

Keywords: video games, game on, activision blizzard, minecraft, sega, angry birds, mario movie