The classic version ofangry Birds will disappear from Google Play (Android) on February 23. But other variants of the original game will still be offered.
A page will turn for the original game angry Birds. From February 23, 2023, the title will be removed from Google Play, the application download platform for Android smartphones. The disappearance of the video game was made official on the 21st of the same month, in a post on Twitter by Rovio, the studio behind it.
If you already have the application on your smartphone, nothing to worry about: angry Birds (which is identified on the Play Store with the name of Rovio Classics: AB) will remain. It is also still possible to recover the game for a few hours, if you want to pay the 1.19 euro to acquire it – the free model with micro-payments applies to later editions.
In angry Birds, the object of the game is to break various structures (wooden, ice, etc.) by throwing birds at them. Several types of birds exist, with various capacities (some are very heavy, others fast, and so on). Your objective, by breaking these structures, is to hit small green piggies. If you hit them all, you win.
angry Birds is one of those games that have had a resounding worldwide success, with billions of downloads. By-products flourished and, another sign of the popularity of these wacky-designed birds, two feature films were produced for cinema release. Theme parks have even been spun off the ground in three countries: Norway, China and the UK.
A game accused of hindering the monetization of other studio titles
But then, why such a reversal if angry Birds took Rovio to unsuspected heights? The studio’s motivations would be of a strategic nature: the classic version of the game, paying, would hinder the commercial development of other titles of the group, that is to say the later editions of Angry Birds, which made the choice of microtransactions, a model that appeals to Rovio.
” We’ve reviewed the business case for Rovio Classics: Angry Birds, and due to the game’s impact on our broader game portfolio, we’ve decided to remove it from the Google Play Store listing. “, can we read in the tweet. On the iOS side, it’s the status quo. Only the name of the game will change for now, with Red’s First Flight.
On Google Play, there are several new versions of Angry Birds offered by Rovio: Angry Birds 2, Angry Birds Friends, Angry Birds Journey, Angry Birds Dream Blast and still eight other variants, which feature sometimes sparrows, sometimes pigs. All include in-app purchases. They are free upon initial download.
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