Rovio Reports Angry Birds Games Growth Again

Angry Birds game characters are seen at the Rovio headquarters in Espoo, Finland March 13, 2019. Picture taken March 13, 2019. (Reuters)
Angry Birds game characters are seen at the Rovio headquarters in Espoo, Finland March 13, 2019. Picture taken March 13, 2019. (Reuters)
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Rovio Reports Angry Birds Games Growth Again

Angry Birds game characters are seen at the Rovio headquarters in Espoo, Finland March 13, 2019. Picture taken March 13, 2019. (Reuters)
Angry Birds game characters are seen at the Rovio headquarters in Espoo, Finland March 13, 2019. Picture taken March 13, 2019. (Reuters)

Finnish game maker Rovio, best known for its Angry Birds franchise, on Friday reported a rise in its fourth-quarter operating profit, boosted by growth from its top three games.

"All our top three games Angry Birds 2, Angry Birds Dream Blast and Angry Birds Friends grew year-on-year," the Helsinki-based mobile game maker said.

Rovio said it expects strong top line growth for the year but its adjusted operating profit to decrease year-on-year due to investments in new games development and marketing.

Rovio is seeking growth from diversifying its portfolio, having acquired Turkish Ruby Games in August and by partnering up to create new mobile games for Moomins, cartoon characters originally popular from a series of books and a comic strip.

"We continue our M&A efforts, aiming to build new growth avenues within casual games, grow our audience network, and establish value through synergies across our game portfolio and studios," Rovio Chief Executive Alex Pelletier-Normand said in a statement.

Rovio reported underlying operating profit of 13.1 million euros ($14.90 million) for the October-December quarter, up around 75% from a year earlier.

Rovio's board proposed a dividend of 0.12 euros per share.



Meta to Introduce Teen Accounts for Facebook

Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of Facebook logo in this illustration taken, February 19, 2024. (Reuters)
Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of Facebook logo in this illustration taken, February 19, 2024. (Reuters)
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Meta to Introduce Teen Accounts for Facebook

Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of Facebook logo in this illustration taken, February 19, 2024. (Reuters)
Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of Facebook logo in this illustration taken, February 19, 2024. (Reuters)

Meta on Tuesday announced that it was extending its teen accounts to its social network Facebook, after recently introducing restrictions on Instagram.

The accounts were brought in for 13- to 15-year-old users of the company's popular photo-sharing app last September as part of moves to shield vulnerable underage internet users from online harms.

Teens are immediately placed in such accounts, with those under 16 unable to change settings without parental permission.

In a statement, Meta said it was expanding the restrictions in the coming months to stop teens from going live or turning off protections for unwanted images in direct messages on their own.

"Teen Accounts on Facebook and Messenger will offer similar, automatic protections to limit inappropriate content and unwanted contact, as well as ways to ensure teens' time is well spent," it added.

The accounts will initially be available in the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada, then other countries at a later date.

At least 54 million teenagers currently have a teen account, which also limits overnight notifications and have reminders to leave the app after an hour.

Users can only be messaged by people they follow or are already connected to.

Adolescent use of social networks has prompted concern in recent years, notably about the amount of screentime and lack of moderation on some platforms.

In November last year, Australia's parliament voted in favor of a ban on under 16s from using social networks.

TikTok recently launched a function in the European Union allowing parents to limit the amount of time that teenagers spend on the app.