Five years ago yesterday, a small company called Rovio released what would become an insanely popular app: Angry Birds. Since its release in December of 2009, Angry Birds has expanded beyond the popular online flash game and into the franchise realm near several big brands like Star Wars and Transformers.
It’s not even just a game anymore; beyond the several apps and online games, Angry Birds has a web series, fan books, game guides, as well as plushes and other merchandise. They even have play parks in several cities throughout the world.
In the Chrome store, the original Angry Birds has nearly 70,000 reviews and about 8.6 million users. A majority of the reviews are positive, giving the game an overall rating of 4.57 stars out of 5. On iTunes, the game has over 820,000 reviews, averaging about 4.5 stars, as well.
Part of its growing success comes from the updates to the game, in the form of theme changes as well as partnering with major brands. Characters in the game have names and backstories, as well, which gives them more personality. The gameplay remains much the same: shoot various size birds with different powers at obstacles, using a slingshot, in order to break them down and defeat little pigs.
The games remain highly popular, topping lists of best-selling apps for every major release, so clearly something is being done right by this once small company.
Happy belated birthday, Angry Birds.
