Rovio Is Ok With Piracy: A Lesson in Client Relations

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By Harriette Halepis

It comes as a bit of a shock to hear: Mikael Hed, CEO of Angry Birds-maker Rovio, said his company isn't worried about piracy. In fact, Hed believes that Rovio, and startups like it, have much to learn from the mistakes made by preceding game makers that paid piracy too much concern. What lesson has Rovio learned?

Addressing an audience of reporters and music industry moguls, as reported by CNET, Hed stated that his company aims to "stop treating the customers as users, and start treating them as fans." After all, fans are the number one reason why a game like Angry Birds still enjoys success two years after its initial launch.

No business can operate without a strong client or fan base, and this is not a notion that Rovio intends to forget. According to Hed, If Rovio were to "lose that fan base, the business is done; but if we can grow that fan base, business will grow." The lesson about piracy he said, is that many companies before Rovio made the mistake of protecting their property through litigation and antipiracy campaigns that alienated fans.

Hed told The Guardian, that piracy "may not be a bad thing: it can get us more business at the end of the day." How, exactly, can piracy breed more Angry Birds fans?

Simply, he said. The more a product is shared, the more people will become aware of that product. A quick example: hundreds of people may pay for and download any given mobile game. That same game can be taken to the next level and reach thousands, or millions, of people through piracy. It becomes a type of free advertising, if you will.

While Hed isn’t advocating piracy, he is letting the business world know that Rovio does things differently. Instead of scaring off current and potential fans by chasing after pirates in court, Rovio intends to set its sights (and funds) on the building the Angry Birds brand (the company will soon open official Angry Birds retail shops in China).

Needless to say, Rovio's treatment of piracy is an excellent example of how startups can earn and keep fans while skillfully handling potential public relations problems.

Hed said there is just one exception to Rovio's piracy rule: the company would pursue anyone attempting to hustle fans by cheapening the game or selling a copy of Angry Birds that is not complete. Now, there's a bit of corporate conscientiousness that all startups can learn from.