Angry Birds hits 30m downloads with a third of players from China

It was only a week ago that Rovio was celebrating reaching the 20 million downloads milestone. Which is why Angry Birds 2 is so different from that original game, adopting many free-to-play traits which largely serve the ultimate goal of making players want to pay for ways to beat the game easier. It also features Red, who’s known as the angriest bird; Chuck, the fastest bird on Piggy Island; Matilda, who longs for peace; Bomb, who explodes; Terence, whose anger makes him heavier; and The Blues, the “triple threat of feathered fury”.

Angry Birds 2 is out now on iOS and Android devices. The Angry Birds movie is slated for release in May 2016.

Showing the growth in mobile gaming, the original Angry Birds (released December 2009) took nine months to amass 20m downloads (opposed to Angry Birds 2’s two weeks). “The company’s dependence on a single franchise, and repeated failure to launch something of equal or greater value, continues to undermine its overall market position”.

So a lot is riding on Angry Birds 2, and maybe it will deliver the revenues that Rovio needs, but it hasn’t up to this point.