Angry Birds Downloaded Half a Billion Times

[Greg Tito]

Angry Birds Downloaded Half a Billion Times

Rovio announced that there are now 500,000,000 digital Angry Birds in the world.

Angry Birds is a game where you drag your finger to slingshot birds across the screen to blow up crates and infuriate pigs. The concept is so simple, yet it's one of the most successful pieces of software ever created by humans. Finnish developer Rovio said that the sales momentum for Angry Birds has not slowed since the game first appeared on Apple's App Store in December 2009, and has now expanded to mobile platforms, the PSP and PS3, PCs and Macs and even free in Google's Chrome browser [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/113374-Angry-Birds-Say-Chrome-is-Great-Mustaches-Are-Funny]. Rovio hopes the 500 million units downloaded mark is just one milestone on the path to total Angry Bird domination.

"This is a fantastic landmark achievement for us, and we're extremely delighted to see such an incredible amount of people enjoying our games," said Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio. "We remain committed to creating more fun experiences and bringing exceptional quality to Angry Birds fans everywhere."

In conjunction with the announcement of half a billion downloads, Rovio also released some bone-chilling statistics:


200,000 years of Angry Birds have been played
300 million minutes of playing time daily
266 billion levels played
400 billion birds launched into action
44 billion Stars collected

Rovio has shipped over 10 million Angry Birds-themed plushies and other toys, and is opening a retail store dedicated to the game in its hometown of Helsinki, Finland. The world domination has already begun.

Get ready for an Angry Birds Saturday morning cartoon, Angry Birds the breakfast cereal, Angry Birds the flamethrower! The kids love this one.

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[scorptatious]

As much fun as Angry Birds is, I kind of wish Rovio would create another game. The Angry Birds craze can only last so long.

 

[Electric Alpaca]

As much fun as Angry Birds is, I kind of wish Rovio would create another game. The Angry Birds craze can only last so long.

Nope, it's hit critical mass - more a fashion statement than a game now. Much like how the iPhone used to be until Apple jumped forward with the iPhone 4.

 

[TheRussian]

A simple game for simple people. It's success is entirely based on friendly and undemanding gameplay. I personally think Angry Birds is a fun little game, but I prefer games that punish you for being totally unskilled.

 

[BrunDeign]

Ah, Spaceballs references. They never get old.

Also that means that on average a person has launched a little under 100 birds? Or a little over. Nevertheless, how much gameplay time would that equate to? I've played Angry Birds a grand total of zero times (maybe once, it's fuzzy and I have a bias towards "Crush the Castle") so I don't know how long that takes.

 

[hashtag]

I don't even like angry birds that much.

OT: Thats pretty amazing. Loads of really amazing games haven't even sold that well.

 

[LavaLampBamboo]

That means that... what, roughly a fourteenth of the planet owns a copy of Angry Birds?

That is impressive. It's amazing how far it's come. One tiny Finnish developer becomes massive through one smart game design choice =)

 

[GeorgW]

I don't really care for Angry Birds, and I absolutely despise rovio, and yet Helsinki is less than an hour away and I really want to go to that shop!

 

[V8 Ninja]

Also that means that on average a person has launched a little under 100 birds? Or a little over.

If I put in the numbers correctly, according to Google's calculator that equates to 800 launched birds per person. That's a lot of birds.

OT: Eh, I'm still partial to Angry Birds. While it doesn't look bad, it looks like an experience that I really won't care about after the hours of trying to get 3 stars on every level.

 

[draythefingerless]

Thats without counting illegal acquisitions.

 

[Ickorus]

Thats without counting illegal acquisitions.

Pretty sure it's free, at least, it didn't cost me anything to get it on my Android.

 

[DarthSka]

Well, good for them I suppose. Honestly, I don't really like the game. I got bored of it after 15 minutes. Apple games just seem to be for wasting about 5-15 minutes. I'm sorry Apple, but I have entire hours that need wasting, not a couple of minutes.

 

[BrunDeign]

Also that means that on average a person has launched a little under 100 birds? Or a little over.

If I put in the numbers correctly, according to Google's calculator that equates to 800 launched birds per person. That's a lot of birds.

OT: Eh, I'm still partial to Angry Birds. While it doesn't look bad, it looks like an experience that I really won't care about after the hours of trying to get 3 stars on every level.

Oh I missed a zero. Sorry.

 

[BrainWalker]

This is a fantastic landmark achievement for us, and we're extremely delighted to see such an incredible amount of people enjoying our games

I think he meant to say "game." What else has Rovio even done?

 

[Zanaxal]

Now just get them to buy skyrim diablo 3 starcraft 2. Future of gaming ensured.

 

[De Ronneman]

It's not that I don't like Angry Birds, it's pretty fun.

It's not that I don't think they deserve it.

It's not that I'm jealous.

I just think that they've gone a bit bonkers with merchandise and the overal popularity. They're talking about it like it's a new religion. Chill, it's a 99 cent game. A saturdaymorning cartoon? A dedicated store? I wonder how far they're taking this before the big bubble bursts and it all comes crashing down.

BTW: 5 bil copies, sold for $0.99 each (just about)= ?4.950.000.000,-. Do something with it, develop a console game, support a console game, something other than Angry Birds...