Angry Birds Lands on Facebook (VIDEO)
They have landed! "Angry Birds" debuted on Facebook yesterday and is already taking the craze to a new level with 60,000 people playing online.
"Angry Birds" took the world by storm with its debut in 2009; it has spent numerous weeks on top of the iTunes best-selling applications chart.
Now, though, Rovio, maker of "Angry Birds," is seeking to expand into a new market. "This launch is just the beginning for 'Angry Birds' on Facebook," stated Senior Vice President of Game Publishing Petri Jarvilehto.
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"We have great new features and gameplay lined up for the fans in the upcoming weeks. 'Angry Birds' on Facebook will offer a unique experience for our fans, and we're really excited to finally be on the platform," he added.
There are bonuses for fans that are already busy demolishing pig fortresses. Four power-ups are available on the Facebook version that are unavailable anywhere else. They include "Sling Scope," which allows for a more precise aim; "King Sling," which provides maximum power and speed; "Super Seeds" that make birds gigantic and "Birdquake," which shakes up the ground and helps destroy buildings.
Over 60,000 people are currently playing on Facebook; 6,000 people have "liked" the game. "Facebook has more than 800 million users, so we're confident we can get one billion people playing soon," Rovio Asia Senior Vice President Henri Holm told the American Foreign Press.
The launch was based in Jakarta, which Holms calls "the Facebook capital of the world." According to him, at least 17 percent of Indonesia's population is on Facebook, and Jakarta-based users have 17 million Facebook accounts. "That is more than four times the accounts in New York and almost twice the amount of the second city [Istanbul]," Holms added.
"Angry Birds" was named Game of the Year and Property of the Year for 2011 at the U.K.'s Appy Awards, which is the British version of the Webby Awards. It has also been named one of the 10 best iPhone apps of all time.
Part of its success comes from a powerful marketing push by Rovio. "When we first started licensing 'Angry Birds' products, it was revolutionary. No other mobile game is doing what we're doing, but with great industry feedback like this, and other gaming companies emulating our merchandising strategy, it's clear that we've been trailblazers in brand building," noted Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio.
Watch a cartoon of the game here:
