e head of Finnish video game publisher and Angry Birds maker Rovio will step down in 2015, replaced by longtime Nokia veteran Pekka Rantala.
Mikael Hed, who has served as Rovio CEO for five years, will likely take a seat on the company's board of directors. Hed will also serve as chairman of Rovio Animation Studios, which oversees the company's movies and animated series.
"It has been an amazing ride," said Hed in a statement released Friday.
Rantala will take on the CEO role starting January 1, 2015. The former Nokia veteran had been serving as CEO of Finnish beverage company Hartwall.
"Pekka is known to be a great leader with experience building successful global consumer brands," said Hed. "I will continue to play an active role and will support Pekka in any way I can to ensure Rovio's continued success."
Hed oversaw Rovio as Angry Birds started its ascent toward becoming one of the biggest video game franchises on mobile. The franchise topped 2 billion downloads, Rovio revealed in April. The figure includes the primary Angry Birds titles as well as spinoffs featuring Star Wars and the animated film Rio.
Last year, Rovio raked in $207 million in revenue, up from $8.6 million four years ago. Angry Birds has spawned a merchandising empire, from toys to a feature film launching in 2016.
Brett Molina, USA TODAY
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