The Angry Birds’ slingshot is aiming for the Middle East. The Mall of Qatar, set to be the country’s largest mall when it opens in Q4 2015, will cater to young families with an Angry Birds Activity Park, as well as the futuristic Juniverse edutainment center, which is set aboard a space station.
Qatar’s Talal bin Mohammed Trading will introduce the digital theme park in partnership with Finland-based Rovio Entertainment, the creator of Angry Birds, and ADabisc Future Qatar, the company behind Juniverse. The new shopping and entertainment hub will span more than 195,000 square meters (roughly 639,763 square feet) in the Al Rayyan area of Qatar, near the heart of Doha.
The mall should see a huge influx of tourists, especially when Qatar hosts the FIFA World Cup in 2022.
Rovio has made a strong push to expand the Angry Birds franchise to more than just a mobile game. Last year in Puerto Rico, it opened a fourth outdoor Angry Birds Activity Park. There is also the Angry Birds feature film from Sony Pictures with a global release set for July 2016. Rovio’s ToonsTV also carries the animated show Angry Birds Toons.
As the company spreads its wings, however, profits aren’t soaring. Rovio’s total revenue may have increased in 2013 to US$216 million from US$210.6 the previous year, but the company’s net profit after taxes for 2013 totaled US$37 million, less than half of 2012’s US$76.8 million.