Angry Birds was the first mobile game to reach a billion downloads and to be played on the International Space Station. The game quickly found popularity and became the top-selling app on Apple’s app store. Even after 13 years, Angry Birds is one of the most played and downloaded mobile games and has branched into several other fields such as film, cookbooks and comics. 

The game quickly found mass appeal due to its simple interface and gameplay. Players aim and shoot different birds using a slingshot to knock over structures filled with evil green pigs. Angry Birds took advantage of a touch screen interface to lure in millions of players with the simple action of using a finger to launch the slingshot over and over again. In addition to easy-to-understand gameplay, Angry Birds utilized bright colorful graphics and a sort of slapstick humor that fascinated users. 

The popularity of Angry Birds allowed the game to be turned into a global franchise. After the success of the original Angry Birds the developer, Rovio, released several other Angry Bird themed games such as Angry Birds Go, Angry Birds Epic and Angry Birds 2. Rovio also partnered with other brands to create games like Angry Birds Rio, Angry Birds Star Wars and Angry Birds Transformers. The success in the mobile gaming industry led Rovio to find success in other fields as well. According to a New York Times article, Angry Birds has all sorts of merchandise: shirts, slippers, toys, accessories, theme parks and soda brands. The company also released two animated Angry Birds movies and has raked in millions of dollars from their animation series on Netflix and Youtube. Angry Birds was the first company to create a global franchise from a mobile game. 

According to an interview between Gamesindustry.biz and former Rovio CEO, Kati Levoranta explained, “We transformed from a gaming company into a games-first entertainment company…Angry Birds changed the way we view mobile gaming.”

Photo Source: https://angrybirds2.rovio.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000475507-What-is-Angry-Birds-2-