Remedy co-founder joins Rovio to bring Angry Birds to consoles
Petri Järvilehto, one of the founders of Remedy Entertainment, has joined fellow Finnish developer Rovio Mobile as senior vice president of console development. Serving in this new role, Järvi– er, let's just go with Petri ... will spearhead Rovio's efforts to "take the Angry Birds success story to current and emerging console platforms." Currently, a port of the original Angry Birds smartphone game is available for PS3 as a PSN Mini, but Rovio looks to be aiming for new heights as it prepares to launch its flightless birds into future console games.
"We want to make Angry Birds a long-lasting global gaming franchise, and we see the console platforms as a way of delivering an even more entertaining, powerful and involving experience," Rovio CEO Mikael Hed said in a press release, perhaps hinting at the dark, psychological turn the bird-launching series could take on consoles. "I think we're only in the beginning, and with consoles we have the opportunity to create a new kind of gaming experience," Petri added, ending on a cliffhanger.
To get a sense of where he's coming from -- and just how completely different it is from Angry Birds -- Petri personally led the development of Max Payne 1 & 2 and headed up the initial game design of last year's standout Xbox 360 exclusive Alan Wake. He will remain on Remedy's board of directors.
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Angry Birds developer Rovio ramping up for console development; Employ industry veteran from the Max Payne and Alan Wake franchises
Petri Järvilehto, known from the best-selling Max Payne and Alan Wake franchises, today joined Rovio Mobile Ltd. as Senior Vice President of Console Development. Järvilehto will ramp up console game development teams to take the Angry Birds success story to current and emerging console platforms. He remains on the Board of Directors of Remedy Entertainment Ltd.
A games industry veteran, Järvilehto is one of the founders of Remedy Entertainment, the company behind the Max Payne hit games (adapted to a Hollywood blockbuster movie starring Mark Wahlberg) as well as Alan Wake, the critically acclaimed Xbox360 exclusive title. He has led various key projects at Remedy, such as Max Payne, Max Payne 2 as well as the initial game design of Alan Wake.
Rovio Mobile Ltd. is the developer of the global gaming phenomenon Angry Birds, which has been downloaded by more than 75 million times by consumers worldwide and has set all the sales records in the current mobile gaming market. Globally recognized as the definitive mobile game by mainstream media, Rovio is now moving on to take Angry Birds to new gaming platforms outside of mobile.
"We want to make Angry Birds a long lasting global gaming franchise, and we see the console platforms as a way of delivering an even more entertaining, powerful and involving experience," said Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio. "Petri has an outstanding track record and we're thrilled to have him take the lead of our console development."
"Angry Birds is one of the fastest growing gaming franchises in the world right now," said Petri Järvilehto. "I think we're only in the beginning, and with consoles we have the opportunity to create a new kind of gaming experience."
The Mac and PC versions of the game were released in January 2011. The company is yet to disclose any details on their current console activities.
For more news and information on Rovio products and updates, follow RovioMobile on Twitter and like Angry Birds on Facebook.
About Rovio
Rovio is an award-winning Finnish game developer, and one of the leading independent developers of mobile games worldwide. Since 2003, Rovio has produced over 50 titles for multiple different mobile platforms. To visit Rovio, go to rovio.com.
