Angry Birds is a model of critical and financial success in the smartphone gaming market, and three of the Fins who helped make it that have left developer Rovio to start something of their own.
Developers Antti Stén, Tuomas Erikoinen and Ilkka Halila co-founded Boomlagoon in April 2012, and today they are announcing the official launch of the company after securing funding from investor Jari Ovaskainen and London Venture Partners.
“Boomlagoon has the skills, knowledge and industry experience required to develop world-class games,” Ovaskainen said in a statement. “They are on track for building a massive business franchise with a compelling pipeline of upcoming titles.”
Boomlagoon hasn’t announced its first title, but promises that the first release is “launching soon.”
“The Boomlagoon guys have a sense of style and an effortless understanding of what is fun in a game,” general partner with LVP David Gardner said. “When I first met with the team in Finland I knew they were onto something great, and immediately wanted to help them realize their creative dreams.”
Stén is responsible for building Rovio’s cloud infrastructure from scratch. Erikoinen designed Angry Bird’s visuals and graphic elements. Halila worked as Rovio’s lead programmer prior to joining Boomlagoon.
It’s not shocking that a portion of the Angry Birds team was able to secure funding. The franchise is a household name, and its success is equally well known.