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Games developer Rovio Entertainment has spun off its book publishing business by creating a new company, Kaiken Publishing.
Rovio said Kaiken will build on Rovio’s book business as well as develop publishing programs for new stories, concentrating on children’s and teen content and comics for readers of all ages.
Kaiken will also act as the global master licensee of Rovio’s brands, focusing on Angry Birds, and develop “storyworlds” similar to Storm Sisters, a YA pirates series first published last year.
Laura Nevanlinna, Rovio’s former publishing director and now Kaiken’s co-founder and publisher, said the company has the opportunity to “blaze new trails in the books business”. She added: “We have many exciting projects in the pipeline, and we’re looking forward to unveiling new properties in the near future.”
“In publishing we’ve explored new ways of creating quality content for our fans, both within the Angry Birds universe and with new IP,” said Mikael Head, head of Rovio’s media business. “Now there’s a great possibility to take that mission even further as a standalone company with a clear mandate and focus.”
Rovio moved into book publishing in 2011 with an Angry Birds cookbook entitled Bad Piggies' Egg Recipes. It has since expanded its books brand through partnerships with National Geographic and Nasa, as well as Angry Birds-branded physical books.