Angry Birds Aims For 1 Billion Fans

source: cnn.com

(CNN) -- Just how big is mobile game phenomenon "Angry Birds"?

Players have slingshotted more than 100 billion virtual birds in the game's many versions, more birds than actually exist on the planet.

That's according to Peter Vesterbacka, chief of Rovio, the Finnish developer behind the blockbuster game. Speaking on a panel Thursday at Fortune's Brainstorm Tech conference, Vesterbacka said the game has surpassed 300 million downloads and has set its sights on becoming the first entertainment franchise with 1 billion fans worldwide.

To reach that goal, the game's makers are expanding way beyond their pig-pulverizing core product, which has been a top app for iPhones, iPads and Android devices for more than a year. "Angry Birds" toys and stuffed birds have been hot sellers, and a board game hit stores this spring.

Also in the works are an animated series, a possible feature film and even a series of books, including a cookbook of egg recipes.

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Angry Bird's Game Played in Real Life

source: tmobile

For the first time ever, watch how people use a simple smartphone to play a life-size version of the cult Angry Birds game. Complete with real shooting birds and exploding pigs!

Angry Birds is a puzzle video game developed by Finland-based Rovio Mobile. Inspired primarily by a sketch of stylized wingless birds, the game was first released for Apple's iOSin December 2009. Since that time, over 12 million copies of the game have been purchased from Apple's App Store, which has prompted the company to design versions for other touchscreen-based smartphones, such as those using the Android operating system, among others.

In the game, players use a slingshot to launch birds at pigs stationed on or within various structures, with the intent of destroying all the pigs on the playfield. As players advance through the game, new birds appear, some with special abilities that can be activated by the player. Rovio Mobile has supported Angry Birds with numerous free updates that add additional game content, and the company has even released stand-alone holiday and promotional versions of the game.


Angry Birds has been praised for its successful combination of addictive gameplay, comical style, and low price. Its popularity led to versions of Angry Birds being created for personal computers and gaming consoles, a market for merchandise featuring its characters and even long-term plans for a feature film or television series. With a combined 250 million downloads across all platforms and including both regular and special editions, the game has been called "one of the most mainstream games out right now", "one of the great runaway hits of 2010", and "the largest mobile app success the world has seen so far".


In Angry Birds, players take control of a flock of multi-colored birds that are attempting to retrieve eggs that have been stolen by a group of evil green pigs. On each level, the pigs are sheltered by structures made of various materials such as wood, ice and stone, and the objective of the game is to eliminate all the pigs in the level. The birds launch themselves at the places where the pigs are trying to live or hide. The birds destroy everything in their air attacks in the game of physics puzzle. Additionally, similarly to the Three Little Pigs fairy tale, the Pigs in the game don’t build very well. Using a slingshot, players launch the birds with the intent of either hitting the pigs directly or damaging the structures, which would cause them to collapse and kill the pigs. In various stages of the game, additional objects such as explosive crates and rocks are found in the levels, and may be used in conjunction with the birds to destroy hard-to-reach pigs.