Rovio chucks up Angry Birds successor, hopes it will fly
Rovio has launched its follow-up to mobile gaming phenomenon Angry Birds, but this time even Android users will have to cough up to play.
The game is called Amazing Alex, and it will set you back 64 pence (99 cents) on iOS or Android, but it used to be called Casey's Contraptions when it was sold to Rovio by game devs Mystery Coconut. Rovio bought the rights to the game last year and has now tarted up the graphics and introduced some Angry Birds-inspired structure.
Angry Birds has been huge for Rovio, and for mobile games in general, but it's worth remembering that it wasn't Rovio's first attempt. The company had 50 or so failures before hitting the big time with Angry Birds, and since then has been extracting every possible penny from the franchise before it gets old. Read more...
Bird Flingers Beware: Android users targeted with fake Angry Birds malware apps
The Angry Birds franchise is beyond massive, and with an animated series, movie tie-ins, and hundreds of millions of downloads, it's one of the prime targets for counterfeit app makers. Since Angry Birds Space launched in late March, the title has sold predictably well, but developer Rovio is now putting out a warning that there are in fact fake versions of the game creeping about Google Play which treat you to malicious malware instead of the birds' newest adventure. Read more...
Angry Birds’ Maker Rovio Ups Its Game, Buys Futuremark’s Games Studio
Rovio has made a killing out of its Angry Birds franchise, and today it announced a deal that points to how the mobile games maker is hard at work developing what could well be the follow up to that: today it announced that it has bought Futuremark Games Studio, the gaming arm of software developer Futuremark.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The team behind Futuremark Games Studio, also based in Finland like Rovio, are all coming over in the deal. Games that the developer has made include Unstoppable Gorg and Hungribles, as well as Shattered Horizon — which, like Angry Birds Space, plays with the zero gravity concept. Read more...
Rovio: Actually there will be Angry Birds Space on Windows Phone
Rovio has apparently changed its mind, with the company's CEO telling Reuters that a Windows Phone 7 port of Angry Birds in Space is in the offing, though he's not saying when.
That contradicts what the company's chief marketing officer told Bloomberg earlier, but CEO outranks head of marketing so we're betting that Angry Birds In Space will get a Windows Phone port, but can't help wondering if Nokia or Microsoft haven't been on the phone to Rovio recently. Read more...