Angry Birds Opens in Riyadh: Inside SEGA's Plan to Monetize a Struggling IP

Rovio Entertainment will open an Angry Birds family entertainment center (FEC) at Granada Mall in Riyadh before the end of 2026, the company announced, in a deal developed and to be operated by Ground Control Entertainment under an IP license. The indoor venue — featuring amusement rides, play zones and food and beverage offerings — is timed to coincide with the December 2026 premiere of The Angry Birds Movie 3 and expands the franchise’s footprint in the Middle East beyond the existing Immersive Gamebox at Wadi Al Riyadh.

"Angry Birds offers fun for everyone, whether that's through a quick solo game on your phone or a full day out with the family," said Katri Chacona, head of brand licensing at Rovio. "Bringing the brand to Granada Mall Riyadh gives us a fantastic opportunity for the local consumers to experience our brand in a space that's accessible, welcoming, and full of fun."

Context: a licensing play amid corporate write-down

The Granada Mall project arrives as parent company SEGA seeks to monetise the Angry Birds IP after recording a $200 million impairment on its Rovio acquisition. SEGA bought Rovio for $776 million in August 2023, acquiring both the Angry Birds intellectual property and Rovio’s mobile teams and Beacon live‑service technology. By February 2026, SEGA acknowledged Rovio had fallen short of performance targets and took the $200 million write‑down, citing "rapid changes in the market environment" and stalled business development tied to the acquisition thesis.

The FEC represents a low‑capital, brand‑licensing route: industry trade reports say Ground Control Entertainment signed an FEC operator agreement with Osool Integrated Real Estate, Granada Mall’s landlord entity, to build and run the venue. The same operator agreement reportedly covers other IPs, including Miraculous Adventures and Lock Down, making the site a shared‑operator, multi‑IP facility rather than a single‑franchise park. That structure puts construction and operating risk on Ground Control while Rovio collects royalties and gains market exposure.

• Ground Control Entertainment bears capital and operational costs; Rovio licenses characters, world design and brand.
• Industry margins for well‑run FEC operators typically run roughly 15–25% EBITDA; operator expenses can consume about 55% of gross revenue.
• Global FEC market data: $30.9 billion in revenue in 2022, forecast to reach $88.7 billion by 2032 (Allied Market Research).

Details and local context

Riyadh already hosted an Angry Birds Immersive Gamebox, a motion‑tracked multiplayer attraction that lets players “slingshot” virtual birds, at Wadi Al Riyadh earlier in 2026. The Granada Mall installation will be a more substantial, multi‑format entertainment destination intended to keep families on site for hours rather than minutes. The signing ceremony for the Ground Control deal reportedly included the Finnish Ambassador and a delegate from the French Embassy, underlining diplomatic as well as commercial interest.

The Riyadh opening is also set against Saudi Arabia’s broader entertainment expansion. The General Entertainment Authority was established in 2016 with over $2 billion in initial government investment as part of Vision 2030; by 2026 the kingdom hosted thousands of events annually and expanded cinema screens from zero in 2018 to more than 700 by 2025, creating a receptive market for branded leisure venues.

Outlook

For SEGA and Rovio, the Granada Mall FEC aligns with a January 2026 licensing restructure that merged Rovio’s licensing team into SEGA’s global character licensing business and with SEGA’s investor strategy to grow non‑game licensing revenue. As mobile revenues for Angry Birds have declined since the acquisition, physical licensing deals offer a means to monetise the IP without new game launches, while operators and landlords capture the bulk of venue economics.