Angry Birds | |
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Created by | Jaakko Iisalo |
Original work | Angry Birds (2009) |
Owners | Rovio Entertainment ( Sega ) |
Years | 2009–present |
Print publications | |
Book(s) | Cook books
Documentary books
Activity books
Story books
National Geographic books
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Comics |
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Films and television | |
Film(s) |
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Animated series |
|
Games | |
Video game(s) | Angry Birds series
Compilations
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Audio | |
Original music |
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Miscellaneous | |
Toy(s) | Lego The Angry Birds Movie |
Theme park attraction(s) | Angry Birds Land
Angry Birds Space Encounter
Angry Birds Activity Park
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Official website | |
AngryBirds.com | |
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Angry Birds is a Finnish media franchise created by Rovio Entertainment, and owned by Sega. The game series focuses on the titular flock of colorful angry birds who try to save their eggs from green-colored pigs. Inspired by the game Crush the Castle , [1] the original game has been praised for its successful combination of fun gameplay, comical style, and low price. Its popularity led to many spin-offs; versions of Angry Birds created for PCs and video game consoles, a market for merchandise featuring its characters, Angry Birds Toons (2013–2016), a televised animated series, and two films; The Angry Birds Movie (2016) and its sequel The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019), with a third film currently in production. By January 2014, there had been over 2 billion downloads across all platforms, including both regular and special editions. [2] [3]
By July 2015, the series' games had been downloaded more than 3 billion times collectively, [4] making it the most downloaded freemium game series of all time. The original Angry Birds has been called "One of the most mainstream games out right now," [5] "One of the great runaway hits of 2010", [6] and "The largest mobile app success the world has seen so far". [7] The first main-series video game sequel, Angry Birds 2 , was released on 30 July 2015.
The first game in the series was initially released on 11 December 2009 for iOS. [8] At the time, the 2009 swine flu epidemic was in the news, so the staff decided to use pigs as the enemies of the Angry Birds. [9] The company released ports of the game to other touchscreen smartphone operating systems, including Android. In early 2019, all remaining Angry Birds games released before October 2014 (with the exception of Friends) were discontinued and removed from app stores, though Bad Piggies was added back in early 2020. Rovio has declined to explain their reasoning behind the decision apart from a brief tweet and support response, both giving different answers. [10] However, in June 2021, by popular demand of the fans, Rovio announced that the classic games will be available on the stores again sometime in the future, [11] starting with a recreated version of the original Angry Birds game known as Rovio Classics: Angry Birds released on mobile platforms on 31 March 2022. [12]
In August 2023, Sega acquired Rovio Entertainment. The deal was closed on 17 August 2023, rendering Sega the current owner of the Angry Birds brand alongside their subsidiary Rovio.
2009 | Angry Birds |
---|---|
2010 | Seasons |
2011 | Rio |
2012 | Friends |
Space | |
Trilogy | |
Bad Piggies | |
Star Wars | |
2013 | Star Wars II |
Go! | |
2014 | Epic |
Stella | |
Transformers | |
2015 | POP! |
Fight! | |
2 | |
2016 | Action! |
Blast! | |
2017 | Evolution |
Match | |
2018 | Champions |
for Messenger | |
2019 | Dream Blast |
Isle of Pigs | |
POP Blast | |
Explore | |
Under Pressure | |
2020 | |
2021 | Reloaded |
Bird Island | |
2022 | Journey |
Rovio Classics: Angry Birds |
Date | Game | Genre | Description |
---|---|---|---|
December 2009 (as Angry Birds) March 2022 (as Rovio Classics: Angry Birds) February 2023 (as Red's First Flight, iOS only) | Angry Birds | Puzzle | The first game released of the series. It primarily involves shooting the birds into structures containing pigs. [13] This game was remade in a new engine under the title Rovio Classics: Angry Birds on 31 March 2022. [12] Later renamed Red's First Flight. |
October 2010 | Angry Birds Seasons | The second game in the series, featuring levels themed around holidays, such as the first day of school, Halloween, and Easter. It was originally released as Angry Birds Halloween. | |
March 2011 | Angry Birds Rio | The third game in the series, tying in with the films Rio and Rio 2 . [14] | |
February 2012 | Angry Birds Friends | The fourth game of the series. It was originally a Facebook exclusive, but it was later ported to mobile. | |
March 2012 | Angry Birds Space | The fifth game in the series that features planets, different gravity, and the angry birds with improved abilities. [15] [16] | |
September 2012 | Bad Piggies | The sixth game in the series where players must build vehicles to bring the pigs to their destinations. [17] | |
November 2012 | Angry Birds Star Wars | The seventh game that ties in with the Star Wars original trilogy: A New Hope (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983). | |
September 2013 | Angry Birds Star Wars II | The eighth game of the series that ties in with the Star Wars prequel trilogy: The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002), and Revenge of the Sith (2005). It also ties with the television show Star Wars Rebels . It is the first game compatible with Hasbro's Telepods, that allows the player to summon a specific character in the game. | |
November 2013 | Angry Birds Go! | Racing | The ninth game of the series, taking the form of a racing game. |
June 2014 | Angry Birds Epic | Role-playing | The tenth game of the series that features turn-based RPG combat and an equipment system. |
September 2014 | Angry Birds Stella | Puzzle | The eleventh game of the series, reuses the original physics-puzzle game play of Angry Birds, but with a cast of new birds. [18] |
October 2014 | Angry Birds Transformers | Side-scrolling shooter | The twelfth game of the series, which ties-in with the Transformers franchise and is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up game. [19] |
March 2015 | Angry Birds POP! | Tile-matching | The thirteenth game of the series and the second game in the Stella series originally titled Angry Birds Stella POP!, where players must match bubbles to pop them and eventually must complete given objectives. [20] In July 2015, the "Stella" name was removed from the title when it was renamed to Angry Birds POP!. |
June 2015 | Angry Birds Fight! | Tile-matching, role-playing | The fourteenth game of the series, which is a player versus player match-3 game. [21] |
July 2015 | Angry Birds 2 | Puzzle | The direct sequel to Angry Birds and the fifteenth game of the series, involving multistage levels. [22] [23] |
April 2016 | Angry Birds Action! | Puzzle, pinball | The sixteenth game of the series and the first to feature the birds in their designs that debuted in The Angry Birds Movie . [24] |
December 2016 | Angry Birds Blast | Tile-matching | The seventeenth game of the series that features tile-matching gameplay that has the player popping balloons to free the Angry Birds. [25] |
June 2017 | Angry Birds Evolution | Role-playing, pinball | The eighteenth game of the series, which is a turn-based RPG battle game. [26] |
August 2017 | Angry Birds Match | Tile-matching | The nineteenth game of the series, which is a match-3 game involving the Hatchlings and characters from Angry Birds Blues . |
February 2018 | Angry Birds Champions | Puzzle | The twentieth game of the series, a competitive player versus player game where players take turns beating a traditional Angry Birds level, aiming to outscore opponents, with monetary prizes at stake. [27] |
May 2018 | Angry Birds for Messenger | The twenty-first game of the series, online versus game on Facebook's Messenger service. Uses similar gameplay as seen in Angry Birds 2. | |
January 2019 | Angry Birds Dream Blast | Tile-matching | The twenty-second game of the series, itself a spin-off of Blast! Players clear groups of balls of the same color to complete objectives. [28] [29] |
February 2019 | Angry Birds AR: Isle of Pigs / Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs | Puzzle | The twenty-third game of the series and the virtual reality and augmented reality versions of the original game, using the visuals and art style of the Angry Birds Movie. [30] |
May 2019 | Angry Birds POP Blast | Tile-matching | The twenty-fourth game of the series, sequel to the original, originally called Angry Birds POP 2, and takes place after the events of the second movie. |
June 2019 | Angry Birds Explore | N/A | The twenty-fifth game of the series, spin-off of the discontinued Angry Birds Action!. It has minigames, as well as the BirdCodes feature from Angry Birds Action!, making it a movie exclusive software. |
August 2019 | The Angry Birds Movie 2 VR: Under Pressure | Puzzle | The twenty-sixth game of the series, the game takes place aboard the Piggy Gadget Lab that the main characters use to get to Eagle Island for the film's climactic confrontation. [31] |
July 2021 | Angry Birds Reloaded | Puzzle | The twenty-seventh game of the series. Features the gameplay of the original game with new visuals, characters and worlds for the video game subscription service Apple Arcade. |
December 2021 | Angry Birds: Bird Island(also known as Angry Birds: Mayhem Simulator and Angry Birds: Destruction Simulator) | Simulator / role-playing | The twenty-eighth game of the series, available exclusively on the MMOG platform Roblox . Features an open world map with tasks, a customizable bird, drivable cars, houses, and the ability to hatch and raise hatchlings. In the Angry Birds: Mayhem Simulator sub-game, it features a map with hatchlings that can open treasure chests with coins. In the Angry Birds: Destruction Simulator sub-game, it features structures which the player needs to destroy with their hatchlings. |
January 2022 | Angry Birds Journey | Puzzle | The twenty-ninth game of the series. Features similar mechanics and level structure of Angry Birds 2 albeit with chapters. The players has five randomly-chosen birds with different abilities to use in order to complete the level objectives and advance to the next level. |
Release date | Game | Genre | Description |
---|---|---|---|
TBA | Angry Birds Block Quest | Puzzle | A casual block-based puzzle game. The game received negative feedback upon its soft launch for using artificial intelligence art. [32] |
TBA | Angry Birds Double Crossed | Action | A movie-themed, multiplayer reality game show. [33] |
TBA | Angry Birds Launch It! | Racing | A movie-themed, racing video game. [34] |
TBA | Angry Birds Next | TBA | An upcoming game "with a twist". The game seems to be what the surveys for Double Crossed and Launch It! lead up to. [35] |
TBA | Angry Birds Racing | Racing | A 2D online racing game. |
TBA | Angry Birds Crazy Golf | Sports | An Angry Birds-themed miniature golf game. [36] |
TBA | Angryverse Brawl | Fighting | An Angry Birds-themed fighting game. [37] |
TBA | Bad Piggies 2 | Puzzle | A sequel to Bad Piggies. [38] The game was soft launched in 2023. [39] |
Released | Game | Genre | Description |
---|---|---|---|
2012 | Angry Birds Trilogy | Puzzle | A compilation of the first three Angry Birds games (the original, Seasons, and Rio) for video game consoles. [40] |
These games were soft-launched in select countries but were permanently discontinued after a few months, never making a full release.
Released | Discontinued | Game | Genre | Developer | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unreleased | April 2016 | Agri Birds | Simulation, visual novel, horror | — | While it was revealed as an April Fools' joke, it was indeed in development. [41] This game would have featured Angry Birds with an appearance similar to their movie counterparts, as they engage in farming, horror survival, shooting, etc., with a full storyline. |
April 2016 | December 2016 | Angry Birds Football | Puzzle | New Star Games | Formerly known as Angry Birds Goal!, it involves birds and pigs as they appear in The Angry Birds Movie, as they face each other in football matches. [42] |
May 2016 | October 2016 | Angry Birds Ace Fighter | Shoot 'em up | Siamgame Mobile | Formerly called Angry Birds Sky Fighters, birds fly and shoot pigs with their fighter jets while rescuing creatures that give them passive effects. [43] [ non-primary source needed ] |
May 2016 | December 2016 | Angry Birds Holiday | Simulation | Sproing | It involves most bird characters from The Angry Birds Movie, who run vacation resort services for incoming pigs to distract them from stealing the eggs. |
March – April 2017 | June 2017 | Angry Birds Islands | Role-playing, simulation | NHN Studio629 | The pigs collect and create resources, while birds fight against monsters to rescue piglets or deliver resources in quests. [44] [ non-primary source needed ] |
February 2017 | October 2017 | Angry Birds Dice | Board game | Joycity Corporation | It involves birds and pigs as they appear in The Angry Birds Movie, in which players attempt to collect property and bankrupt their opponents by having them land on it. [45] [ non-primary source needed ] |
February 2018 | June 2019 | Angry Birds Island | Puzzle | Mybo | Also known as Angry Birds Blast 2 and Angry Birds Blast Island, it was a free-to-play 3D tap-to-match game similar to Angry Birds Blast!. |
Unreleased | May 2019 | Angry Birds Space Assault! | K Lab America | An unreleased game by K Lab America which was planned to be a spinoff to Angry Birds Space. It was described as a "3D action strategy collectable game". The project was first made public in May 2019 when the designer Glen Dahlgren uploaded the contents to his portfolio. [46] | |
February 2020 | September 2020 | Angry Birds Tennis | Tennis | Rovio Entertainment | The game is played like tennis: the player needs to win a match of the game in the levels with characters from the Angry Birds movies and on various locations such as Cobalt Plateaus and Bird Island. There were various game modes and the player could play against another player. |
March 2020 | December 2020 | Angry Birds Legends | Role-playing | Rovio Entertainment | It was similar to Angry Birds Epic except it uses 3D graphics, cards and the birds and pigs team up with humans. [47] |
From 2011 to 17, Angry Birds has collaborated with many other companies and released variations of the game in the respective companies' theme. Most of them were Flash-based. All of the games featured exclusive levels and elements that aid in promotion.
The following games feature the Angry Birds and Bad Piggies as playable characters or exclusive rewards featuring them, along with some miscellaneous references to the franchise.
Application | Genre | Description |
---|---|---|
LINE Rangers | Role-playing | Some characters appear as limited-time units. |
Puzzles & Dragons | Puzzle, role-playing | Characters from Angry Birds, Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds Epic appear as monsters in a collab dungeon. |
Sonic Dash | Endless runner, platformer | Features Red, Chuck and Bomb as playable characters, only collectible in the crossover event with Angry Birds Epic. Ten years afterwards, Red and Chuck as they appear in post-film material would be added as playable characters during a crossover with the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. |
Amazing Alex | Puzzle | The level background for "The Classroom" episode has a mini alphabet chart denoting the letters "Angry" and "Bird". The piggy bank item is also based on the pigs from Angry Birds. |
Sky Punks | Endless runner, platformer | Features Angry Birds as outfits for characters. |
Tiny Thief | Point-and-click adventure | Level 5-1 features a puzzle element similar to Angry Birds. |
Retry | Adventure | The first ad-break level featured in Retry is based on Rovio's most recent Angry Birds game at the time, Angry Birds Epic. |
Just Dance 2016 | Dance | Features a remix of the Angry Birds main theme known as "Balkan Blast Remix" as a dance level, which features Red, Chuck, Bomb, and a Minion Pig. |
Roblox | MMORPG, game creation | The Angry Birds Movie themed virtual accessories were obtainable during a collaboration event. Additionally, there is an official Angry Birds-themed experience on the platform titled Angry Birds: Bird Island, which allows players to explore the island and raise hatchlings. |
PUBG Mobile | Battle royale | The Angry Birds Movie themed weapon and accessory skins were obtainable during a collaboration event. |
Duolingo | Education | Features Red as a second cameo character (besides the Duolingo owl) on splash screens during the middle of a lesson. |
Minecraft | Sandbox | Skins and a game mode based on The Angry Birds Movie and Angry Birds: Summer Madness were made available as DLC. |
Sonic Forces: Speed Battle | Endless runner, platformer | Red and Chuck as they appear in post-film material were added as playable characters during a crossover with the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. |
This section needs to be updated.(October 2024) |
Rovio is investigating ways to expand the Angry Birds brand, including merchandise, television shows and movies. As of 2024, Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio Entertainment, has envisioned a feature film in the stop-motion animation style reminiscent of Aardman Animations, famous for the Wallace & Gromit franchise. [56] To that end, Rovio has acquired a Helsinki-based animation studio to prepare Angry Birds short cartoons on for Nickelodeon Extra, [57] [58] the first of which was a Christmas special named "Wreck the Halls" that debuted in December 2011. [59] He'd acknowledges that such a film would be years away, and that Rovio must keep the characters relevant until then, by producing sequels and new adaptations of the game. [56]
Angry Birds Toons , a TV series based on the game, made its debut on March 16, 2013. Angry Birds Toons was released through third-party video distribution platforms, including Comcast's Xfinity On-Demand in the US, Samsung Smart TVs, and Roku set-top boxes. It is also available in a number of countries on traditional television broadcasts. Angry Birds Toons is still accessible on mobile devices by an additional Angry Birds Toons channel on all of the Angry Birds apps homescreens. [2] The DVD versions of the TV series were released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The series has a total of 3 seasons.
On 11 April 2014, Rovio released Piggy Tales , a stop motion animated series. It tells the stories of the Minion Pigs' life.
On 1 November 2014, Rovio released Angry Birds Stella , a 2D/3D animated series, telling the stories of Stella's life and that of her friends on their own island.
On 3 July 2015, Rovio released the Rocket Science Show, an educational live-action-animated series, the NASA tell viewers facts about planets in the Solar System.
On 12 July 2015, Real Angry Birds, inspired by the game Angry Birds, premiered on Nat Geo Wild .
In 2016, Rovio released Fun Game Coding, another educational live-action-animated series, containing insightful instructions from tech-savvy Rovio employees.
On 10 March 2017, Rovio released Angry Birds Blues, an animated series based on The Angry Birds Movie . It shows the lives of the Blues having fun, while the Hatchlings were doing random stuff and ruining their plans.
On 3 July 2017, Netflix and KidsClick picked up every Angry Birds Toons, Angry Birds Stella, and Piggy Tales episode in the form of 23 compilations.
On 1 June 2018, U.S. television production company Big Fish Entertainment announced that they would be partnering with Rovio to create a game show based on Angry Birds currently[ when? ] called Angry Birds Challenge. [60]
On 9 June 2018, a series titled Angry Birds BirLd Cup was released on YouTube. It follows two teams (Team Red & Team Chuck) of rambunctious kids ready to put their soccer skills to the test. With Everton stars Wayne Rooney, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Tom Davies, and Cenk Tosun on hand to lend their expertise and officiate the competition, the two teams will go head to head in a series of soccer-centric challenges to earn points. The team that scores the most points will claim the illustrious BirLd Cup, and BirLdwide acclaim. [61]
On 3 October 2018, a short, three-episode series titled Angry Birds Zero Gravity was released on YouTube. [62]
On 17 November 2018, a series titled Angry Birds on the Run was released on YouTube. The series focuses on the birds being sent to the real world from a girl's phone, causing mayhem while the pigs are looking for them.
In late 2018, Rovio announced that a new, long-form Angry Birds television series titled Angry Birds: Summer Madness is in production and was originally set for release in 2021 on Netflix. [63] It was pushed and was released in January 2022. [64] It focuses on Red, Stella, Bomb, and Chuck as teenagers in summer camp causing mayhem with their teacher being the Mighty Eagle.
On 1 June 2019, a series titled Angry Birds MakerSpace was released on YouTube. [65] It features the birds and pigs working together in a shared workspace.
On 18 January 2020, a series titled Angry Birds Slingshot Stories was released on YouTube. [66] It features structures from the original Angry Birds game and shows the birds and pigs' life outside the levels.
On 31 August 2020, a new series titled Angry Birds Bubble Trouble was released on Amazon Freetime Unlimited and YouTube. It shows Red, Chuck, Bomb, Silver, and Stella in their Dream Blast designs having fun and dreaming.
On 6 June 2023, a new long-form television series titled Angry Birds Mystery Island which is in development and is set to be released on Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Kids+. The series focus on a new group of Hatchlings, trying to survive on an uncharted island. [67]
An animated film adaptation, The Angry Birds Movie , was released on 20 May 2016 [68] which fully anthropomorphizes the characters for the first time in franchise history, giving them limbs and voices. Developed, produced and financed by Rovio Entertainment, [68] it is animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks [69] and distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Entertainment under their Columbia Pictures banner. [68] It is directed by animation veterans Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly in their directorial debut. [70] Jon Vitti wrote the film's screenplay, [71] and John Cohen [72] and Catherine Winder [71] served as the producers. [70] Rovio also hired David Maisel, former executive producer of Marvel Studios films such as Iron Man , to be the executive producer of its feature-length films. [72]
A sequel, The Angry Birds Movie 2 was released on 13 August 2019 [73] [74] [75] [ non-primary source needed ] [76] which was co-produced by both Rovio Animation and Sony Pictures Animation. Directed by the creator of The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack , Thurop Van Orman, the sequel breaks from the series' source material by having the Birds and Pigs ending their rivalry to form an alliance to battle a larger threat, [77] as well as becoming one of the most critically well-received video game film adaptations ever made, garnering an unprecedented score of 73% from Rotten Tomatoes. [78]
A second sequel, The Angry Birds Movie 3, was announced on 6 June 2024, with DNEG Animation and Rovio's new parent company Sega Sammy Group producing without the involvement of Sony Pictures. [79]
There have been several toys made from Angry Birds characters. [56] The game's official website offers plush versions of the birds and pigs for sale, along with T-shirts featuring the game's logo and characters. [80] In May 2011, Mattel released an Angry Birds board game, titled "Angry Birds: Knock on Wood". [81] Over 10 million Angry Birds toys have been sold thus far. [57] Rovio opened the first official Angry Birds retail store in Helsinki on 11 November 2011 at 11:11 a.m. local time. [82] It expects to open its next retail store somewhere in China, considered the game's fastest-growing market. [82] Merchandise has been successful, with 45% of Rovio's revenues in 2012 coming from branded merchandise. [83]
The most notable Angry Birds toy line is Telepods, created by Hasbro. Originally created for Angry Birds Star Wars II, [84] Angry Birds Go!, Angry Birds Stella, and Angry Birds Transformers. [85] Telepods are a series of toys-to-life figures using a similar digital toy hybrid concept as Skylanders or Disney Infinity characters. [86] These are figures used to "teleport" a character of the corresponding figure into the game by scanning a miniature QR code via the device's camera. The Telepod platform technology was invented by ReToy, a bMuse company, in partnership with Hasbro. [87]
In 2012, Mattel produced Hot Wheels cars based on Angry Birds characters: Red, the Blues, Chuck, and a Minion Pig.[ citation needed ]
In 2016, Lego released six construction sets based on The Angry Birds Movie. [88]
In 2011, Rovio published a cookbook titled Bad Piggies: Egg Recipes, along with doodle books based on some characters of the game. After a few weeks of the release of Angry Birds Space, they also released Angry Birds Space-themed books about numbers, alphabets, and stickers.
On 20 March 2012, National Geographic published a paperback book titled Angry Birds Space: A Furious Flight Into The Final Frontier [89] [90] shortly before the release of Angry Birds Space which became available on 22 March 2012. National Geographic also has a book titled Angry Birds Feathered Fun for learning all about birds. [91]
In the same year, Rovio created a contest with the prize Angry Birds: Hatching a Universe, a book about the franchise and all the characters. It was released for sale by Titan Books on 24 May 2013; [92] And again by Insight Editions on 4 June 2013. [93] The book was written by Danny Gordon with a foreword by Mikael Hed.
As of 10 March 2014, IDW Publishing announced [94] that they will be publishing Angry Birds Comics starting in June 2014, with Paul Tobin being the writer. [95]
In the summer of 2017, GoComics announced that it will be running a comic strip series based on the world of The Angry Birds Movie, with each issue available to view on its website. [96] The strip ran for over a year, from 3 August 2017 to 20 September 2018.
In early 2012, Olvi started to manufacture Angry Birds soft drinks, after licensing with Rovio [97] with two different tastes: Tropic (tropical fruits) [97] and Paradise (pineapple-mandarin). [97] In September 2012 Olvi released two new tastes to the soft drink collection: Lagoon (pear-apple) and Space Comet (orange-cola). [98] [99]
The game's characters have been used, officially or otherwise, in amusement park attractions. In September 2011, the Window of the World theme park in Changsha, China opened an unlicensed Angry Birds attraction. [100] Visitors to the park use a large slingshot to launch stuffed versions of the bird characters at green balloons that represent the pigs. [100]
Upon learning of the attraction, Rovio Entertainment was reported to be considering working with the theme park to officially license it. [82] In March 2012, Rovio announced plans for an official Angry Birds Land, that opened on 28 April 2012, at the Särkänniemi adventure park in Finland. [101] Angry Birds Land opened in May 2014 at Johor Bahru City Centre in Malaysia. [102]
The first Angry Birds themed park in the UK was created in Sundown Adventureland, in the Nottinghamshire countryside. [103]
It was announced that UK theme park Thorpe Park would open their own Angry Birds Land themed area within the park, opening in May 2014, with a 4D cinema showing a 10-minute Angry Birds film with 4D effects, and a slight re-theme of existing drop tower ride Detonator. [104] This Angry Birds Land operated until the end of the 2023 season, being rebranded for the 2024 season. [105]
Rovio opened "Activity Parks" of the game. The first one opened in Lightwater Valley, England, with dance floors, playgrounds that include slides, and touchscreen devices for visitors to play Angry Birds.[ citation needed ] The attraction also opened in Vuokatti, Finland, with obstacle courses and races, [106] and a separate "Angry Birds Town" with kids' cars.
A park opened in Malaysia, but closed after six years on 5 April 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [107]
In June 2013, Rovio and NASA opened the Angry Birds Space Encounter theme park at the Kennedy Space Center. [108] It offers creating characters and shooting birds at pigs, as in the video game. It also opened in the Space Center Houston.
Angry Birds World theme park at Doha Festival City opened in April 2019; the indoor part had opened in June 2018. [109]
Rovio opened a miniature Angry Birds golf course at American Dream Meadowlands in East Rutherford NJ USA on 1 October 2020. [110] [111]
Game | Metacritic |
---|---|
Angry Birds | 80 |
Angry Birds Seasons | 78 |
Angry Birds Rio | 87 |
Angry Birds Friends | 65 |
Angry Birds Space | 83 |
Angry Birds Star Wars | 88 |
Angry Birds Star Wars II | 77 |
Angry Birds Go! | 60 |
Angry Birds Epic | 70 |
Angry Birds Transformers | 70 |
Angry Birds Fight! | 54 |
Angry Birds 2 | 66 |
Angry Birds Action! | 75 |
Angry Birds Blast! | 66 |
Angry Birds Evolution | TBC |
Angry Birds Match | TBC |
Angry Birds Island | TBC |
Angry Birds Dream Blast | TBC |
Angry Birds Reloaded | TBC |
Angry Birds Journey | TBC |
The first game received critical acclaim for gameplay and style, and is considered one of the greatest video games ever made. [112]
According to Metacritic, only four games in the franchise received highly positive reviews with a score of 80% and above, while the two games received mixed reviews with a score of 60% and below.
The Angry Birds characters have been referenced in television programs throughout the world. The Israeli comedy show Eretz Nehederet (in English: a Wonderful Country), one of the nation's most popular TV programs, satirized recent failed Israeli-Palestinian peace attempts by featuring the Angry Birds in peace negotiations with the pigs. Clips of the segment went viral, getting viewers from all around the world. The sketch received favorable coverage from a variety of independent blogs such as digitaltrends.com, [5] hotair.com [113] and intomobile.com, [114] as well as from online news media agencies such as Haaretz , [115] The Christian Science Monitor , [6] The Guardian , [116] and MSNBC. [117] American television hosts Conan O'Brien, Jon Stewart and Daniel Tosh have referenced the game in comedy sketches on their respective series, Conan , The Daily Show , and Tosh.0 . [118] [119] [120] In the 30 Rock episode "Plan B", guest star Aaron Sorkin laments to Liz Lemon, "Our craft is dying while people are playing Angry Birds and poking each other on Facebook". He then provides a tip for Liz to improve her score in the game.[ citation needed ] In February 2011, American journalist Jake Tapper mockingly introduced U.S. Senator Chris Coons as the "Angry Birds champion of the Senate" during the National Press Club's annual dinner. [121] Some of the game's more notable fans include ex-Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom, who plays the iPad version of the game, and author Salman Rushdie, who claims he is "something of a master at Angry Birds". [122] Basketball star Kevin Durant is an avid fan of Angry Birds, and regularly plays other NBA stars in matches, although he is wary of cheating. [123] In August 2011, the Milwaukee Brewers played the Angry Birds theme song during the pre-game introductions of the arch-rival St. Louis Cardinals players, in reference to former Cardinals' manager Tony LaRussa's propensity to bean opposing players.[ citation needed ]Angry Birds also appears briefly, for comic relief, during a scene in the 2013 film G.I. Joe: Retaliation , in which Zartan plays the game while waiting for the world leaders' response to his threats of annihilation.[ citation needed ] Angry Birds were featured in the 2013 Helsinki episode of Veep .[ citation needed ]Angry Birds was referenced in the film The Starving Games , a parody of The Hunger Games .[ citation needed ] A group in the Indian show Dance+ have done a dance based on Angry Birds.[ citation needed ]Angry Birds was referenced in the Family Guy episode "Turban Cowboy" where one failed skydiving attempt by Peter results in him landing in a level. The TV show Robot Chicken also parodied Angry Birds in one sketch.
Angry Birds and its characters have been featured in advertisements for other products. In March 2011, the characters began appearing in a series of advertisements for Microsoft's Bing search engine. [124] At the 2011 South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, Nokia used scrims on a downtown building to project an advertisement for its new N8 handset that included the game's characters. [125] A June 2011 T-Mobile advertisement filmed in Barcelona, Spain included a real-life mock-up of the game in a city plaza, [126] while Nokia used the game in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to promote an attempt to set a world record for the largest number of people playing a single mobile game. [127] Finnair has also used Angry Birds in their advertising, including taping an Airbus A340 airliner with the Angry Birds figures and holding an Angry Birds tournament on board a flight to Singapore. [128] Rovio has also prepared a number of web-based promotional variants of Angry Birds themed around creations of other companies, such as Finnish snack company Fazer, [129] Spanish pizza delivery chain Telepizza, [130] and Japanese television network Fuji TV, [131] as well as promotions of American brands including Cheetos, [132] Wonderful Pistachios [133] and Coca-Cola. [134] In November 2013, Indian brand Parle started a marketing campaign in which a trading card is included in each packet of Parle's Wafers and it included a related contest to win Angry Birds merchandise. [135] In February 2016, Cadbury India had Angry Birds small figurines or tattoos in Cadbury Gems packs or Surprise balls. [136] In June 2016, Kurkure India started an offer to win daily themed prizes and a trip to Angry Birds Activity Park in Malaysia. [137]
Finnish Formula One driver Heikki Kovalainen used an Angry Birds-themed helmet in the 2012 season, following a sponsorship deal with Rovio. Angry Birds also sponsored the Lotus F1 Team that year, with its logo on the top of each Lotus Renault F1 car's nosecone. As part of the deal, fellow Finn Kimi Räikkönen ran an Angry Birds 'Space' logo on his branded caps. [138]
Hockey Bird, an angry hockey playing bird, was the official mascot of the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships. It was designed by Toni Kysenius and Rovio Entertainment. [139]
Premier League association football club Everton F.C. signed a deal with Rovio in 2017, whereby the Angry Birds logo appears on the club shirt's left sleeve beginning from the 2017–18 Premier League campaign. [140]
The game's popularity has spawned knock-off and parody games that utilize the same basic mechanics as Angry Birds. For example, Angry Turds features monkeys hurling feces and other objects at hunters who have stolen their babies. [141] Another game, titled Chicks'n'Vixens and released in beta form on Windows Phone devices, replaces the birds and pigs with chickens and foxes, respectively. [142] The developer of Chicks'n'Vixens intended the game as a challenge to Rovio Mobile, which stated at the time that a Windows Phone port of Angry Birds would not be ready until later in 2011. [142] The Angry Birds theme song (Balkan Blast Remix) and its characters appear in Just Dance 2016 . [143]
Angry Birds has inspired works of religious analogy. A five-part essay titled "Angry Birds Yoga — How to Eliminate the Green Pigs in Your Life" was written by Giridhari Dasa of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness of Brazil, utilizing the characters and gameplay mechanics to explain various concepts of yoga in Gaudiya Vaishnavism as understood and interpreted by the Hare Krishna. [144] [145] [146] [147] [148] The piece attracted much media attention, in Brazil and abroad, for its unique method of philosophico-religious presentation. [149] [150] [151] [152] The piece was also recognized and appreciated by Rovio Mobile's Peter Vesterbacka, who was prompted to comment on Twitter, "Very cool! I can see Angry Birds Yoga becoming a worldwide craze;-)". [144]
Rovio also launched the Angry Birds Playground in partnership with University of Helsinki. Based on the Finnish national curriculum the program covers maths, science, music, language, arts & crafts, physical education and social interaction. Focused on preschoolers of kindergarten age, the program introduced interactive learning material including books, posters, games and digital content. [153] In 2015, a spin-off from the Rovio Angry Birds Playground was established as Fun Academy by co-founder and CEO Sanna Lukander, former Rovio's vice president of learning and book publishing, and co-founder Peter Vesterbacka [ fi ], former Rovio's 'Mighty Eagle'. [154] Fun Academy is currently[ when? ] present in 9 countries across the world.[ citation needed ]
During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, graphic ads supporting Israel showed up in Angry Birds and other video games for children. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it had instructed advertisers to block the ads for viewers under the age of 18. Rovio subsequently banned the ads manually. [155]
In January 2014, it was revealed that Angry Birds was considered a "leaky app" and was used to collect data about its users including their sexual orientation and location by the National Security Agency (NSA) and GCHQ. In retaliation, anti-NSA hackers defaced Rovio's website. Claims were made by Edward Snowden that the app was leaky and that they were capable of siphoning data.
According to The Register , the information was leaked through the in-game advertisement code like that embedded by Millennial Media: "Millennial's tracking software generates a personal record for each user that can store information from their political affiliation and sexual orientation to whether their marital state was single, married, divorced, engaged or 'swinger'. This information is used to target in-app ads more effectively, and can be collected by UK and US intelligence agencies for analysis." [156] In a statement to the press, Rovio denied that they were providing any information to the intelligence agencies, but did not exclude the possibility that their advertisers might do so. [157]
Following this revelation, on 29 January, the Angry Birds site was defaced by hackers who replaced it with "Spying Birds" via a DNS hijacking attack. According to Rovio, "The defacement was caught in minutes and corrected immediately". [157] The Syrian Electronic Army tweeted after the incident that the attack had been carried out by "a friend" of theirs. [158]
Angry Birds, also retrospectively known as Angry Birds Classic, is a 2009 physics-based casual puzzle video game developed by Finnish video game developer Rovio Entertainment, and the first of the Angry Birds series. Inspired primarily by a sketch of stylized wingless birds, the game was originally released for iOS and Maemo mobile devices starting in December 2009, utilising touchscreen controls. By October 2010, 12 million copies of the game had been purchased from the Apple App Store and Nokia Ovi Store, prompting Rovio to port Angry Birds to various other mobile devices as well as to home video game consoles, personal computers and others by 2011.
Rovio Entertainment Oyj is a Finnish video game developer based in Espoo. Founded in 2003 by Helsinki University of Technology students Niklas Hed, Jarno Väkeväinen and Kim Dikert, the company is best known for the Angry Birds franchise. The company currently operates studios in Barcelona, Toronto, Montreal, Espoo, Stockholm, and Copenhagen. The company's success has helped to establish Finland as a leading player in the mobile game industry and has helped to create a thriving ecosystem for game development in the country. In August 2023, Sega bought Rovio for US$776 million and was made a subsidiary of the Sega Europe division.
Angry Birds Rio was a 2011 puzzle video game developed and published by Rovio Entertainment, and is the third installment in the Angry Birds series. The game was released on March 22, 2011 and promoted as a marketing tie-in with the 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios co-produced animated film Rio. While utilizing the same basic gameplay as Angry Birds (2009), Angry Birds Rio added a number of new elements, most notably the first use of boss levels. Angry Birds Rio was discontinued on February 3, 2020 along with Angry Birds Star Wars (2012), and Angry Birds Star Wars II (2013), with the games also being delisted from Google Play and the iOS App Store.
Angry Birds Seasons was the second puzzle video game in the Angry Birds series, developed by Rovio Entertainment. Based on Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons was released for devices using Apple's iOS devices in October 2010.
Angry Birds Space was a science fiction physics-based puzzle video game and the fifth installment in the Angry Birds video game series. It is developed and published by Rovio Entertainment. Angry Birds Space was released on March 22, 2012. The game was featured in NASA videos and the game features NASA spacecraft that when found unlock unique levels.
Angry Birds Toons is a Finnish short-form animated television series based on Rovio's Angry Birds. This animated series follows the adventures of the birds as they guard their eggs against the pigs, who want to steal them for their king to eat, as well as adventures from within each group, with episodes having been released weekly.
Angry Birds Trilogy is a video game compilation co-developed by Rovio Entertainment, Exient Entertainment, Housemarque, and Fun Labs and published by Activision. The game contains the first three games of the popular mobile game series, Angry Birds (2009), Angry Birds Seasons (2010), and Angry Birds Rio (2011). It was released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and on Nintendo 3DS on September 25, 2012, in North America and September 28 in Europe. Both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game are able to be played with motion controls along with the traditional controllers. The game was released on Wii and Wii U consoles on August 13, 2013, in North America and on August 16 in Europe. The game was released for the PlayStation Vita in October 2013.
Bad Piggies is a side-scrolling puzzle video game developed by Rovio Entertainment, and was the company's first spin-off in the Angry Birds series. The game launched on Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac on September 27, 2012. It was released for BlackBerry 10 in October 2013 and for Windows Phone in April 2014. Unlike the Angry Birds games, the player assists the pigs in building contraptions that travel on land and in air to collect pieces of a map to ultimately capture and take away the Angry Birds' eggs. As of October 2012, Bad Piggies was the fastest-selling game on the Apple App Store, and the quickest one to reach the top of the app list in just three hours.
The Angry Birds Movie is a 2016 animated comedy film based on Rovio Entertainment's video game series of the same name, produced by Columbia Pictures and Rovio Animation, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film was directed by Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly from a screenplay written by Jon Vitti and a story by Mikael Hed, Mikko Pöllä, and co-producer John Cohen. It stars the voices of Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Kate McKinnon, Sean Penn, Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key, Bill Hader, and Peter Dinklage. The film follows Red (Sudeikis), an outcast in an island of anthropomorphic flightless birds, as he suspects a newly arrived crew of pigs led by Leonard (Hader) of plotting an evil plan, and attempts to put a stop to them with the help of his newfound friends Chuck (Gad) and Bomb (McBride).
Angry Birds Star Wars II was a 2013 puzzle video game and a crossover between Star Wars and the Angry Birds series, released on September 18, 2013. The game is the seventh Angry Birds game, developed by Rovio Entertainment. The game is a prequel to Angry Birds Star Wars and is based on the Star Wars prequel trilogy, as well as the television show Star Wars Rebels.
Angry Birds Go!, also formatted as Angry Birds Go, was a kart racing game and the eighth game in the Angry Birds video game series. The game was co-developed by Rovio Entertainment and Exient Entertainment, and was released on December 10, 2013. The game was compatible with Hasbro Telepods that will allow the player to summon a specific kart. The game's tracks are located on the 3D-rendered Piggy Island. The game also featured upgradable karts and unique powers for each character.
Angry Birds Stella, listed as Angry Birds Slingshot Stella, was a 2014 puzzle video game and the second spin-off from the Angry Birds series, developed by Rovio Entertainment. Announced on February 13, 2014, Rovio stated that the game would be accompanied by a toy-line with Telepods, and a television series. The game was released on September 4, 2014 and was discontinued on September 8, 2015.
Angry Birds Epic was a free-to-play role-playing video game that is the ninth installment in the Angry Birds series, developed by Chimera Entertainment and published by Rovio Entertainment. The game was announced on March 12, 2014 and features turn-based combat and a crafting system. The game was soft launched on March 17 on the Australia, New Zealand and Canada App Store, and was released worldwide on June 12, 2014.
Piggy Tales is a Finnish animated television series based on Bad Piggies, a spin-off of Angry Birds. Animated in a style resembling clay animation before transitioning into computer-generated imagery after the release of The Angry Birds Movie, the series focuses on the life of the Minion Pigs with no dialogue. It was produced by Rovio Entertainment and distributed by Sony Pictures Television, with the French studio Cube Creative providing some of the animation.
Angry Birds Transformers is a 2014 shoot 'em up mobile game and the tenth installment in the Angry Birds series. The game is a crossover between Angry Birds and the Transformers franchise, featuring battles between the Autobirds and Deceptihogs, Angry Birds' versions of the Autobots and Decepticons. It was published by Rovio Entertainment with collaboration from Hasbro, being released on October 15, 2014, for iOS, and was released for Android on October 30, 2014. The release includes related licensed merchandise and a toy line from Hasbro.
Angry Birds Stella is a Finnish animated adventure television series based on the whole all-device mobile game Angry Birds: Slingshot Stella produced by Rovio Entertainment. The first episode, "A Fork in the Friendship", aired on Toons.TV on November 1, 2014. The series ended on March 11, 2016.
Angry Birds POP! is a tile matching game co-developed by Rovio Entertainment and Outplay Entertainment that was soft launched for iOS in Canada in December 2014 and released worldwide for iOS and Android devices in March 2015.
The Angry Birds Movie 2 is a 2019 animated comedy film based on Rovio Entertainment's Angry Birds video game series, produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, and Rovio Entertainment, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The sequel to The Angry Birds Movie (2016), the film was directed by Thurop Van Orman and co-directed by John Rice from a screenplay by Peter Ackerman, Eyal Podell and Jonathon E. Stewart. It is an international co-production between Finland and the United States. Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Bill Hader, and Peter Dinklage reprise their voice roles from the first film, with newcomers Leslie Jones, Rachel Bloom, Awkwafina, Sterling K. Brown, and Eugenio Derbez joining the ensemble voice cast. In the film, the birds are forced to team up with the pigs to stop Eagle Island's leader from destroying both of their Islands.
Lego The Angry Birds Movie was a Lego theme based on Rovio Entertainment's video game series of the same name and the same of the film. It was licensed from Columbia Pictures and Rovio Animation. The theme was first introduced in April 2016. The product line was discontinued by the end of 2017.