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Rovio head climbs into slingshot, launching from CEO roost this year
After establishing the effectiveness of poultry as winged demolition teams, Angry Birds series creator Rovio Entertainment has announced its CEO, Mikael Hed, will leave his perch on January 1, 2015. Former Senior Vice President of Nokia Pekka Rantala will fill Hed's position, but until the switch is official, Rantala will work closely with Hed to prevent everything from toppling over like a blocky, pig-filled tower. Though Hed is leaving Rovio's top roost, he has been appointed as Chairman of Rovio Animation Studios and been nominated for a Board of Directors position by Kaj Hed. Rovio's CEO swap is part of what it describes as a "foundation-building year," which follows a steep drop in profits in 2013. [Image: Rovio]
Feel the Force: Angry Birds Star Wars coming November 8th to iOS, Android, WP, Kindle Fire and computers
Rovio teased a certain film-inspired Angry Birds picture a long, long last week, and as expected, it's another new game -- Angry Birds Star Wars. Our furious feathered friends are assuming the likenesses of characters from the epic saga, with the trusty Red Bird taking on Luke Skywalker's role. It wouldn't be the Rebel Alliance without a dark side to fight, which is where the Pigs fit into the storyline; even the music and levels for gravity-based play will hark back to the film franchise. In addition to the software, details of related merchandise have also been uncovered, including table games, toys and costumes. The game is out on November 8th for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Kindle Fire and computers, and if it follows the original storyline, we wonder how Red Bird's going to feel about his porcine family history.
Angry Birds sequel 'Bad Piggies' launches tomorrow, we go hands-on
Finnish game studio Rovio went from relatively unknown to center stage with the Angry Birds franchise. And in record time, too -- the first Angry Birds landed on Apple's iOS App Store in December 2009, less than three years ago, and has since become an international sensation. The birds spawned a flock of sequels, branded tie-ins, and tons of merchandise. All this adds up to quite a bit of chicken scratch for Rovio, and also quite a bit of pressure to keep the money train rolling. Today marks Rovio's first true sequel to the original Angry Birds, and it's focused on the other side of the farm: the pigs. Enter Bad Piggies. Unlike Angry Birds, Bad Piggies isn't about flinging anything towards a complicated structure in order to knock it down. Instead, it's about moving one very green, goofy sounding pig to various points on a map to collect items and reach a goal -- it's much more Cut the Rope than Angry Birds. The same physics-based game mechanics are at play in Bad Piggies that made both Cut the Rope and Angry Birds so popular, and they're just as fun in this time around. But how do you get said piggy to the goals? You build a contraption, of course. Each level starts with a build section, allowing players to create all types of vehicles in order to transport the pig from point A to point B (while grabbing collectibles along the way). Only a small handful of build options are available, keeping Bad Piggies just as speedy of a game -- to pick up and play while commuting or while waiting at the dentist's office -- as its wildly successful progenitor. It's hard to say if Bad Piggies will recapture the success that Rovio found with Angry Birds proper, but all the hallmarks are there: quick, fun gameplay, colorful characters, goofy sounds, and accessibility (we couldn't help but get all three stars on every level, but you don't have to in order to proceed, should it prove too difficult). Bad Piggies launches tomorrow morning for iOS devices, Mac, and Android.%Gallery-166589%
Angry Birds Friends featuring Green Day as green pigs
Desperately avoiding the use of the words "dookie" or "american idiot," Angry Birds developer Rovio announced a new Angry Birds Friends this morning featuring the band Green Day. Angry Birds Friends is the free Facebook version of the fowl franchise. The episode contains 10 new levels, with the members of band reimagined as some bad pigs (allegory goes here).The crossover also includes Green Day's latest single "Oh Love," as well as "exclusive song 'Troublemaker.'" There's more Green Day episodes of Angry Birds Friends coming this fall.Now if we could only get a Rihanna version of Angry Birds Friends with Chris Brown as all the pigs.
Rovio employing a growing percentage of Finland
Out of the variety of numbers included in this morning's Rovio 2011 financial report, one line stuck out to us as particularly insane: the employee count. Rovio wasn't a very large company before Angry Birds exploded in late 2009, having only produced a couple dozen under-the-radar mobile titles. But by 2011, the need for expansion was clearly there.Resultantly, employee numbers similarly exploded – from just 28 employees in early 2011 to a whopping 224 at year's end. In case that isn't a dramatic enough statement unto itself, Valve Software employs 293 people, and Valve has quite a few more things to manage. Our biggest fear – a fear that many Rovio employees likely echo – is that the massive upscaling of jobs will result in a massive downscaling should the Angry Birds franchise lose its foothold as king of mobile distractions. Not exactly a new business model in the game industry, unfortunately.For now at least, Rovio's employing a ton of Finnish devs to craft its bird flingers and related products. Someone's gotta think of these clever marketing vices, you know!
