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'The Angry Birds Movie' credits will unlock game content
Rovio has a lot riding on its new animated movie. Earlier this month, the Finnish company reported a €13 million ($14.8 million) operating loss for 2015, blaming "heavy investments" in future projects. The popularity of Angry Birds is waning, but a commercially succesful film could be its salvation. As such, it's developed a new app called Angry Birds Action!, which rewards players for seeing the movie on opening weekend. Players that open the app during the end credits will be treated to an "exclusive movie clip" and a new area of the game to explore. The feature is triggered by an "inaudible digital watermark" that plays in the background.
Watch the first trailer for 'The Angry Birds Movie'
Yes, folks, it's all happening. The first trailer for The Angry Birds Movie has arrived. Directed by Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly (both first timers), and written by Jon Vitty (The Simpsons), the animated film seems to focus on the origin story of why these famous birds are, well, angry. Red, perhaps the most popular character, is voiced by Jason Sudeikis, while Danny McBride does the honors for Bomb -- you know, the black bird who likes to blow up. The rest of the cast is made up by other well-known stars, including Bill Hader, Josh Gad, Maya Rudolph and Peter Dinklage. Interestingly enough, The Angry Birds Movie is now slated to hit theaters in May 2016, a couple of months earlier than originally announced.
'Angry Birds' studio cuts another 260 jobs
The firm behind Angry Birds has announced that it's laying off a further 260 employees as it attempts to become a smaller and more profitable company. CEO Pekka Rantala admits that Rovio was too eager to "explore new business opportunities," which it did by doing "too many things." Unfortunately, with profits tumbling, the outfit is going to have to go back to being a stripped-down games maker. The lay-offs will come from all areas of the business except those working on the Sony-backed Angry Birds Movie in the US and Canada. It's not much of a surprise since it looked as if the company's day in the sun had ended a while ago. After all, Angry Birds 2 is the thirteenth title in the series, so it's clearly been flogging a seriously-injured horse for quite some time.
The thirteenth 'Angry Birds' game is 'Angry Birds 2'
It might have the number two in its name, but don't be fooled: the new Angry Birds game is just the latest in a seemingly endless trickle of apps featuring Rovio's feathered friends. We've seen Angry Birds interpretations of Star Wars, Transformers and even Mario Kart -- but today the company is back with "the first sequel" to the original. You're still flinging colorful birds at pigs, but the gameplay has been tweaked with new multi-stage levels, spells and boss piggie battles. Rovio has been having a tough time of late, so it's no doubt hoping that this app is the one to recapture the first game's runaway success.
Surely someone cares about the official 'Angry Birds' sequel
Angry Birds revolutionized the mobile gaming market after its launch in 2009, and developer Rovio has since released numerous off-shoots, follow-up games and bits of retail merchandise, plus it's working on an animated film due in theaters next April, starring Peter Dinklage and Maya Rudolph. Now, six years and 3 billion series downloads later, Angry Birds 2 is officially on its way. The sequel is due to hit app stores worldwide on July 30th and, yes, it seems the game will still feature exploding crates, a bunch of pigs and some deeply upset birds.
'Angry Birds VR' puts the infamous fowl on your face
In case you felt T-shirts, the silver screen, lunch buckets, go-karts or your smart device weren't enough places to ogle Angry Birds, now there's one more: virtual reality. A demo for the ubiquitous game about an avian-fueled, porcine genocide made its way to Samsung's Gear VR recently, but from the sounds of it the formula's changed quite a bit. Because the series-typical 2D side-scrolling affair likely wouldn't translate well to a head-mounted display, the perspective's shifted to behind the birds. What's more, based on the screenshot above it looks like you're coasting through rings rather than destroying fortresses. As Road to VR suggests, one might guide the crestfallen fowl through these loops by moving your head. Seems plausible. There are still a number of questions remaining, but perhaps the biggest is how do the pigs feel about possibly getting spared this time out?
Rovio's head of games flies the coop
Jami Laes has departed Angry Birds developer Rovio where he lead the games division for nearly the past two years, reports Reuters. Laes was hired in April of 2013 as Rovio's EVP of Games. At the time, he claimed he was a huge fan of Angry Birds and looked forward to building on the franchise's already phenomenal success. "[W]e've only seen a fraction of what can be achieved with great brands like Angry Birds and Bad Piggies and I wanted to be a part of building that story," Laes said. Since announcing his departure from Rovio, Laes has offered no information on why he left. He hopes to launch a new startup in the near future, but offered no further information on his plans when questioned by Reuters. Laes' departure comes just over a month after Rovio laid off 16 percent of its workforce. According to the Wall Street Journal, Laes' role will be filled by industry veteran David Byrne. [Image: Rovio]
Angry Birds publisher cuts layoffs down to 110
Angry Birds publisher Rovio announced plans to cut 16 percent of its workforce in early October, which approximated 130 jobs. That number is now down to 110, as the studio concluded its employee negotiations this week. As part of Rovio's reorganization plans, it opened up "several positions" to internal applicants, so the final number of layoffs for the publisher is expected to change as the company fills those new roles. As part of its restructuring, Rovio will discontinue its Tampere studio and consolidate its operations in Finland to its Espoo branch. The company's profits were halved as of April, resulting in a leadership change at the end of the year as announced in August. As of January 1, 2015, Mikael Hed will step down as CEO and move into the role of Chairman of Rovio Animation Studios, being replaced by Nokia's former Senior Vice President of Pekka Rantala. [Image: Rovio]
Angry Birds Go tops 100 million downloads, adds team multiplayer
To celebrate more than 100 million downloads of its free-to-play avian kart racer Angry Birds Go, the development team at Rovio has added team multiplayer functionality to the game's latest update. Though Rovio's unveiling is light on details, we know two crucial things. First, the game now supports races that pit teams of three players against one another. Second, unlike the vast majority of features available to players of Angry Birds Go, this new team multiplayer mode is not an in-app purchase, and is actually, legitimately free. Alongside the new team multiplayer mode Rovio has also added night racing to Angry Birds Go, for those who prefer their unrealistic motosports under the cover of darkness. Beyond the break you'll find footage of the new team multiplayer racing in action. If any of that sparks your interest, you can grab a fully updated copy of Angry Birds Go from Google Play, the iOS App Store or whatever other distribution service your mobile device of choice relies upon. [Image: Rovio]
Angry Birds developer Rovio slashing 130 jobs
After announcing a rather abrupt CEO change in August, which is scheduled to take place in 2015, Rovio revealed another organizational change today that further emphasizes the troubling times the company is going through. According to a new blog post by outgoing CEO Mikael Hed, the company is prepared to cut as many as 130 jobs in its home country of Finland, which amounts to approximately 16% of its entire workforce. Hed prefaced the announcement by noting that the company is doing its best to adapt to change in the fast-moving markets it is involved in, while also admitting that more rapid growth was anticipated but didn't pan out. Rovio isn't likely close to a collapse, however, as the Angry Birds franchise still carries plenty of weight on the App Store and in toy stores -- so much so that the full-length Angry Birds movie has just finished casting some big name talent including Bill Hader and Peter Dinklage.
Angry Birds studio cuts 130 jobs to 'simplify' company
With profits down and an announced executive shuffle for year's end, it's not surprising that Angry Birds publisher Rovio is flinging some jobs into the dumpster. Outgoing CEO Mikael Hed announced today that the company will cut about 16 percent of its workforce, which is a "maximum of 130 people." "It is never easy to consider changes like this, but it is better to do them sooner rather than later, when we are in a good place to reignite growth," wrote Hed in a post entitled "Towards a Simplified Organization."
The 'Angry Birds' movie has its cast
We've never quite understood the point of hiring Danny McBride to be in a G-rated movie, since he can't do the sort of foul-mouthed improvisation that he does best. That hasn't deterred Rovio and Sony Pictures from asking him and other comedians for filling out the cast list for Angry Birds: The Movie. The flick will star SNL-alum Jason Sudeikis as Red, a bird with a "temper problem," Josh Gad as Chuck and the aforementioned McBride as Bomb. Other cast members include SNL-alum Bill Hader as the Pigs, SNL-alum Maya Rudolph as Matilda and, er, current SNL player Kate McKinnon. The film's secret weapon, of course, is to hire Game of Thrones and Destiny star Peter Dinklage as the Mighty Eagle. Although if the movie is anything like the game, we guess we'll have to pay a couple more bucks in order to see the Mighty Eagle get us past a particularly difficult scene.
Peter Dinklage, Jason Sudeikis to star in Angry Birds film
Mobile developer Rovio announced the voice cast for its upcoming Angry Birds animated feature film today, revealing that Horrible Bosses star Jason Sudeikis and Game of Thrones' Peter Dinklage will play major roles. Other featured actors include Josh Gad (Frozen's Olaf), Danny McBride (Eastbound & Down), Saturday Night Live's Bill Hader, and Bridemaids co-star Maya Rudolph. Though no plot details have been divulged thus far, the preview image above indicates that Angry Birds' film adaptation will feature redesigned bird characters with legs and wings. Weird! Angry Birds will hit theaters on July 1, 2016. [Image: Rovio]
Angry Birds Transformers' trailer is ridiculous and features Astrotrain
It would be easy to believe that we've reached the point of cultural saturation for Angry Birds thanks to its seemingly limitless supply of spinoffs. How many possible more Angry Birds games can the market possibly support? The answer is "at least one more" if Angry Birds Transformers can live up to it's ridiculous launch trailer. Featuring side scrolling shooter action, Angry Birds Transformers pits you as both Autobots and Decepticons as you blow up waves of pigs and their towers. The game play shown brings to mind the SNES classic Wild Guns as enemies pop up from all sides, including the background. Long time Transformers fans will notice the cameo from Astrotrain, who despite being a Decepticon appears to be helping the Autobots in this game. If you understand anything I just wrote, watch this trailer immediately. Angry Birds Transformers hits New Zealand and Finland's App Stores today. The game will have its official mass launch next month.
Angry Birds Transformers goes back to the 80s in new trailer
Hoping to distance itself from the glossy, modern efforts of noted explosion connoisseur Michael Bay, Rovio has issued a trailer for Angry Birds Transformers that hearkens back to the series' glory days, an era when men were men, women were women and robots were anything Hasbro's toy designers could imagine. [Image: Rovio]
Rovio launches highly-commercialized Angry Birds Stella
Rovio today launched Angry Birds Stella, the latest game in the popular Angry Birds series. In Stella, players assume the role of heroine Stella and her five bird friends as they protect their home of Golden Island from Gale the Bad Princess and her piggy minions. The Stella edition has the same sling-shot style gameplay of earlier Angry Birds titles, but with a strong commercial tie-in. For example, player can scan Hasbro's "Telepod" characters in order to unlock new playable characters. Rovio also plans to launch a new cartoon as well as line of books and toys for the launch. Angry Birds Stella is available for free from the iOS App Store.
Valiant Hearts, Angry Birds Stella on mobile today
Ubisoft's Valiant Hearts: The Great War and Rovio's fierce (the Tyra definition, not literal) Angry Birds Stella are available now on mobile gizmos. Angry Birds Stella can be flung for free onto iOS and Android devices and is the pinker version of the 2 billion unit downloaded franchise. Stella will also be part of a 13-episode TV series, along with "books, animations and their own line with HASBRO." No word yet if Sephora will have an Angry Birds make-up line. Don't reject that joke outright!
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]
Rovio CEO flies the coop
With over half a decade leading Rovio's flock, CEO Mikael Hed announced today that he will be stepping down as the company's head man starting January 1st of next year. The co-founder will hand over the keys to the Angry Birds developer to Pekka Rantala, who is currently serving as the company's Chief Commercial Officer, a position he took in June of this year. Rovio's profits have taken a bit of a dive recently, as companies like King (Candy Crush Saga) and Supercell (Clash of Clans) have overtaken the throne that Angry Birds once easily claimed. In fact, 2013's profits were less than half of what they were in 2012 for Rovio, as the company's key franchise has failed to translate -- in a profitable way -- to new genres like racing and role-playing.
'Angry Birds' maker crowns a new CEO as it reaches a crossroads
Today Mikael Hed announced he would be stepping down as CEO of Rovio and that former Nokia exec Pekka Rantala would be taking his place in 2015. The developer has quickly gone from being a company that no one had ever heard of to one of the biggest names in mobile gaming. How? Almost entirely on the strength of its flagship franchise: Angry Birds. The problem is, nearly five years on, the Angry Birds name just isn't enough any more. The developer continues to churn out new titles at a fairly regular clip, but many are simple rehashes of the standard formula it debuted in 2009 (see Angry Birds Star Wars, Transformers, Rio, Space, Friends and Seasons). And with profits dropping off at an alarming rate the company is at something of a crossroads. In 2013 the company made less than half of what it raked in during 2012. If the company wants to avoid the fate of Zynga, which quickly fell apart after going public, it needs to change now before its problems become unfixable. Whether or not Rantala, who most recently was CEO at Finnish beverage company Hartwall, can save Rovio from the dustbin of history remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure, if he can stop just one more licensed Angry Birds game from being made, the world will be a better place.
