Angry Birds creator Rovio unveils an industry-wide guide for inclusive game design

Rovio :

Launched at Rovio’s flagship event RovioCon, the Playbook for Inclusive Game Development and Marketing discloses Rovio’s approach to making games more inclusive by sharing their extensive knowledge acquired over the years.


Helsinki, November 29th. Reaching billions of players, the game industry is one of the most influential forces in entertainment. Rovio has recognized that even casual games can have an immense influence on shaping our perceptions. To bring more transparency to its work in diversity, equity and inclusion, Rovio has published its Playbook for Inclusive Game Development and Marketing.


”We in the games industry have enormous power and responsibility in defining what is normal and what is acceptable. There are no simple hacks or shortcuts to building diverse and inclusive games, it all starts with building diverse and inclusive game companies. We want this to be a new conversation starter for the industry in need of self-reflection so we’re encouraging both our employees and the wider gaming community to reflect, engage in conversations with people from various backgrounds, and challenge their own perceptions,” says Heini Kaihu, Rovio’s Chief Sustainability Officer.


The Playbook delves deep into crucial aspects of creating inclusive games, offering actionable lists and concrete how-to’s for industry professionals on themes such as non-binary characters, game accessibility, inclusive narratives, and harmful stereotypes in gaming. The first version of the Playbook was produced internally by inviting Rovio’s employees to share their best practices, and shape actionable items from the collective insight.


“By launching this Playbook, we aim to share our accumulated learnings from creating one of the most loved game franchises in history. However, we do recognize that this is only the first step in our journey towards truly inclusive game development: In the future we also want to engage our core audiences and stakeholders to help us embrace diversity and create more inclusive gaming experiences by developing the content even further,” Kaihu adds.


The Playbook is available for free download and serves as a comprehensive resource for creating games that cater for a diverse audience.

Download the Playbook here


Contact:

Lotta Backlund
Head of communications, Rovio
[email protected]


Rovio in brief

Rovio Entertainment Corporation is a global mobile-first games company that creates, develops and publishes mobile games, which have been downloaded over 5 billion times. Rovio is best known for the global Angry Birds brand, which started as a popular mobile game in 2009, and has since evolved from games to various entertainment, animations and consumer products in brand licensing. Rovio has produced The Angry Birds Movie (2016), and its sequel, The Angry Birds Movie 2 was released in 2019. The company offers multiple mobile games and has eight game studios – one in Espoo (Finland), one in Stockholm (Sweden), one in Copenhagen (Denmark), one in Barcelona (Spain), two in Montreal and one in Toronto (Canada). The studios also include a subsidiary in Izmir (Turkey) called Ruby Games, which was acquired in 2021. Most of the employees are based in Finland where Rovio is headquartered. The company’s shares are listed on the main list of NASDAQ Helsinki stock exchange with the trading code ROVIO. Sega Europe Limited has acquired more than 90 percent of Rovio’s issued and outstanding shares and will delist the company from NASDAQ Helsinki stock exchange as soon as permitted under applicable laws.
www.rovio.com