Rovio hires new executive, Jami Laes, to lead games division

Rovio has hired Jami Laes, a longtime mobile gaming studio executive, as its new executive vice president of games, the company announced today.

"This was a natural next step in my career," said Laes in a statement announcing his hiring. "We've only seen a fraction of what can be achieved with great brands like Angry Birds and Bad Piggies and I wanted to be a part of building that story." Laes previously worked at EA Playfish, where he served as vice president of global studios. Prior to his time there, he was the vice president of global studios at Digital Chocolate and the general manager of its Helsinki branch.

Laes replaces Petri Järvilehto, who "has decided to move on in his career," said Rovio. Järvilehto is a co-founder of Remedy Entertainment; he left the studio to join Rovio in February 2011 and became executive vice president of games one year later.

"With their excellent past track records, I have full confidence in our Games management and Studio heads to work together with Jami to do amazing work also in the future," said Järvilehto. "This is a good time to hand over the reins."

As executive vice president of games, Laes will head up Rovio's video game division. Rovio is looking to grow its international presence, and said Laes' experience working with Chinese and Japanese studios will prove invaluable.

"[Laes'] expertise consists of a unique combination of creative process leadership and mobile and social platform knowledge which adds great value to our team," said Rovio CEO Mikael Hed.