SEGA Sammy has published its Q3 2025/26 financial report, and it's a pretty mixed bag for the multimedia giant, with losses reported in multiple different areas.
But perhaps the biggest piece of news comes from Rovio's side of the business. Sega acquired the Angry Bird developer in 2023 Sega reports has fallen "significantly short of initial forecast due to rapid changes in the market environment and other factors".
The company has reported an impairment loss of ¥30.4 billion ($198.6 million), citing increased competition and the rapid deterioration of user bases. This meant that "Rovio found it difficult to advance its initially planned business development".
A number of titles haven't met Sega's own internal targets, with development delays and cancellations also a factor. Sonic Rumble, the mobile game which Rovio co-developed, also fell short of expectations, particularly around customer acquisition.
It's not just with Rovio, though — while net sales remain steady and are 4% up year-on-year, operating income and ordinary income are both down, 54.6% and 51.8% respectively. Entertainment Contents has also dropped 31%.
Sega only reports two full game releases for the third quarter: Persona 3 Reload on Switch 2, and Football Manager 26, the latter of which needed "a series of updates to address post-launch bugs, etc. and improved the gameplay environment". And in general, full game titles have reported "stagnant growth".
It's not all bad news, though: Sega is planning to release "four major new titles for mainstay IPs" next financial year, with a continued focus on expanding the trans-media business (movies, TV shows, merch, etc.). Daniel Svärd, once King's head of live game studios, will be appointed as Rovio's COO.
All in all, not a great showing for the company, and Sega has revised its net sales expectations to rise slightly — ¥490 billion / $3.2 billion, up from ¥475 billion / $3.1 billion — while operating income expectations have been lowered to ¥40 billion / $261.5 million, from ¥53 billion / $346.6 million.
Of course, Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties has just launched, and that will be included in the final report for the fiscal year ending March 2026. So that may help turn the tides a little. And 2026 marks the 35th anniversary for the Sonic series, so the future should be blue — in a good way.
Let us know what you think of Sega's acquisition of Rovio, and its quieter Q3, in the comments.