Angry Birds

This article is about the franchise. For the original video game, see Angry Birds (video game).

"Telepod" redirects here. For the fictional teleportation technology, see The Fly (1986 film).

Angry Birds is a Finnish video game series and media franchise created by Jaakko Iisalo and owned by Rovio Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings. The franchise primarily follows a flock of anthropomorphic flightless birds as they defend their nest of eggs from a species of green pigs. A majority of the Angry Birds video games are puzzle games developed by Rovio and released for mobile devices, while other games and spinoffs have been developed by other studios and are in other genres such as racing, role-playing, and tile-matching. The franchise also includes other media such as merchandise, theme parks, television, and feature films.

Angry Birds
Logo used since 2015
Created by	Jaakko Iisalo
Original work	Angry Birds (2009)
Owner	Rovio Entertainment
Years	2009–present
Films and television
Film(s)	The Angry Birds Movie (2016) The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019) The Angry Birds Movie 3 (2027)
Animated series	Angry Birds Toons (2013–2016) Piggy Tales (2014–2019) Angry Birds Stella (2014–2016) Angry Birds Blues (2017) Angry Birds: Summer Madness (2022) Angry Birds Mystery Island (2024–present)
Games
Video game(s)	List of games
Miscellaneous
Toy(s)	Lego The Angry Birds Movie
Theme park attraction(s)	Thorpe Park
Official website
https://www.angrybirds.com

The first game in the series, Angry Birds, was developed and released in 2009. After its success saved Rovio from bankruptcy, Angry Birds became their flagship franchise. Several puzzle successors followed, with the first spinoff, Bad Piggies, releasing in 2012. The first media adaptation, television series Angry Birds Toons, premiered in 2013. A theatrical film, The Angry Birds Movie, was released in 2016 with a sequel, The Angry Birds Movie 2, following in 2019. A second film sequel is scheduled for 2027.

Angry Birds is one of the highest-grossing media franchises. Its first game is considered one of the best games of all time, and its early successors have received positive critical reception. Thus, the franchise is frequently referenced in popular culture and has had multiple cross-promotions. Despite this, it has been involved in controversial topics numerous times, such as spyware and the Gaza war.

History

2009–2012: Conception and initial successors

The first game in the series, Angry Birds was conceptualised as a result of Rovio Entertainment being in a state of bankruptcy. The idea originated from a sketch by designer Jaakko Iisalo,^[1] and its physics-based gameplay was inspired by the Adobe Flash game Crush the Castle (2009).^[2]

Following the game's success, Rovio Entertainment released its first successor, titled Angry Birds Halloween, exclusively for iOS on 21 October 2010.^[3] The game was later renamed to Angry Birds Seasons and was ported to Android devices in December 2010 alongside a Christmas-themed update.^[4] Multiple other Angry Birds titles would follow Seasons. In 2011, a tie-in with the film Rio, titled Angry Birds Rio, was developed by Rovio and released on 22 March. Following its release, The Independent reported that Angry Birds Rio had the "the biggest launch ever for Rovio".^[5] Rio is the first of numorous Angry Birds crossovers, being followed by Angry Birds Star Wars (2012) and Angry Birds Transformers (2014).^[1] The series' first spin-off, a game titled Bad Piggies starring the pigs, was released on 27 September 2012.^[6]

2013–2019: Adaptations and sequels

The video games received their first media adaptation in 2013 with the premiere of the animated television series Angry Birds Toons on 13 March.^[7] Following the series' announcement in 2012, head of animation Nick Dorra also confirmed that a feature film was in production, but would not release until after 2014.^[8] Rovio later announced two other animated series—Piggy Tales and Angry Birds Stella—alongside a second season of Angry Birds Toons, which were all released in 2014.^[9]

On 16 July 2015, Rovio announced a direct sequel to the original Angry Birds game, titled Angry Birds 2, which was slated for a full release on 30 July.^[10] Following the sequel, the teaser trailer for The Angry Birds Movie was released,^[11] receiving negative reception.^[12] The Angry Birds Movie was released in theatres by Sony Pictures Releasing on 30 May 2016.^[13] A tie-in prequel game featuring augmented reality gameplay and the film's character designs, titled Angry Birds Action!, was released for mobile devices in 2016 to promote the film's release.^[14][15][16] The following year, in 2017, a sequel to The Angry Birds Movie was announced, scheduled for a theatrical release on 20 September 2019.^[17][18]

2019–2023: Discontinuation of legacy titles

In 2019, several early games from the franchise—such as Angry Birds and Angry Birds Seasons—were delisted from app stores due to Rovio being unable to update them to match modern standards.^[19] This resulted in negative backlash, to which Rovio responded by announcing remakes of the discontinued titles.^[20] The first of these remakes, Rovio Classics: Angry Birds, was developed by Rovio using the Unity game engine and was released for iOS and Android on 31 March 2022.^[21] In February 2023, however, the remake was delisted from Google Play, whilst being renamed to Red's First Flight on the App Store.^[22] This was due to the remake having a negative impact on other Angry Birds games by being prioritised over them in search results.^[23] Rovio subsequently stated that they may reverse this decision in the future.^[24]

Video games

Release timeline

2009	Angry Birds
2010	Seasons
2011	Rio
2012	Friends
	Space
	Trilogy
	Bad Piggies
	Star Wars
2013	Star Wars II
	Go!
2014	Epic
	Stella
	Transformers
2015	POP!
	Fight!
	2
2016	Action!
	Blast!
2017	Evolution
	Match
2018	Champions
	for Messenger
2019	Dream Blast
	Isle of Pigs
	POP Blast
	Explore
	Under Pressure
2020
2021	Reloaded
	Bird Island
2022	Journey
	Rovio Classics: Angry Birds
2023
2024
2025	Bounce

Release date	Game	Genre	Description
December 2009	Angry Birds	Puzzle	The first game released of the series. It primarily involves shooting the birds into structures containing pigs.[25] This game was remade in a new engine under the title Rovio Classics: Angry Birds on 31 March 2022.[26] Later renamed Red's First Flight.
October 2010	Angry Birds Seasons		The second game in the series, featuring levels themed around holidays, such as the first day of school, Halloween, and Easter. It was originally released as Angry Birds Halloween.
March 2011	Angry Birds Rio		The third game in the series, tying in with the films Rio and Rio 2.[27]
February 2012	Angry Birds Friends		The fourth game of the series. It was originally a Facebook exclusive, but it was later ported to mobile.
March 2012	Angry Birds Space		The fifth game in the series that features planets, different gravity, and the angry birds with improved abilities.[28][29]
September 2012	Bad Piggies		The sixth game in the series where players must build vehicles to bring the pigs to their destinations.[30]
November 2012	Angry Birds Star Wars		The seventh game that ties in with the Star Wars original trilogy: A New Hope (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983).
September 2013	Angry Birds Star Wars II		The eighth game of the series that ties in with the Star Wars prequel trilogy: The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002), and Revenge of the Sith (2005). It also ties with the television show Star Wars Rebels. It is the first game compatible with Hasbro's Telepods, that allows the player to summon a specific character in the game.
November 2013	Angry Birds Go!	Racing	The ninth game of the series, taking the form of a racing game.
June 2014	Angry Birds Epic	Role-playing	The tenth game of the series that features turn-based RPG combat and an equipment system.
September 2014	Angry Birds Stella	Puzzle	The eleventh game of the series, reuses the original physics-puzzle game play of Angry Birds, but with a cast of new birds.[31]
October 2014	Angry Birds Transformers	Side-scrolling shooter	The twelfth game of the series, which ties-in with the Transformers franchise and is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up game.[32]
March 2015	Angry Birds POP!	Tile-matching	The thirteenth game of the series and the second game in the Stella series originally titled Angry Birds Stella POP!, where players must match bubbles to pop them and eventually must complete given objectives.[33] In July 2015, the "Stella" name was removed from the title when it was renamed to Angry Birds POP!.
June 2015	Angry Birds Fight!	Tile-matching, role-playing	The fourteenth game of the series, which is a player versus player match-3 game.[34]
July 2015	Angry Birds 2	Puzzle	The direct sequel to Angry Birds and the fifteenth game of the series, involving multistage levels.[35][36]
April 2016	Angry Birds Action!	Puzzle, pinball	The sixteenth game of the series and the first to feature the birds in their designs that debuted in The Angry Birds Movie.[37]
December 2016	Angry Birds Blast	Tile-matching	The seventeenth game of the series that features tile-matching gameplay that has the player popping balloons to free the Angry Birds.[38]
June 2017	Angry Birds Evolution	Role-playing, pinball	The eighteenth game of the series, which is a turn-based RPG battle game.[39]
August 2017	Angry Birds Match	Tile-matching	The nineteenth game of the series, which is a match-3 game involving the Hatchlings and characters from Angry Birds Blues.
February 2018	Angry Birds Champions	Puzzle	The twentieth game of the series, a competitive player versus player game where players take turns beating a traditional Angry Birds level, aiming to outscore opponents, with monetary prizes at stake.[40]
May 2018	Angry Birds for Messenger		The twenty-first game of the series, online versus game on Facebook's Messenger service. Uses similar gameplay as seen in Angry Birds 2.
January 2019	Angry Birds Dream Blast	Tile-matching	The twenty-second game of the series, itself a spin-off of Blast! Players clear groups of balls of the same color to complete objectives.[41][42]
February 2019	Angry Birds AR: Isle of Pigs / Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs	Puzzle	The twenty-third game of the series and the virtual reality and augmented reality versions of the original game, using the visuals and art style of the Angry Birds Movie.[43]
May 2019	Angry Birds POP Blast	Tile-matching	The twenty-fourth game of the series, sequel to the original, originally called Angry Birds POP 2, and takes place after the events of the second movie.
June 2019	Angry Birds Explore	N/A	The twenty-fifth game of the series, spin-off of the discontinued Angry Birds Action!. It has minigames, as well as the BirdCodes feature from Angry Birds Action!, making it a movie exclusive software.
August 2019	The Angry Birds Movie 2 VR: Under Pressure	Puzzle	The twenty-sixth game of the series, the game takes place aboard the Piggy Gadget Lab that the main characters use to get to Eagle Island for the film's climactic confrontation.[44]
July 2021	Angry Birds Reloaded	Puzzle	The twenty-seventh game of the series. Features the gameplay of the original game with new visuals, characters and worlds for the video game subscription service Apple Arcade.
December 2021	Angry Birds: Bird Island (also known as Angry Birds: Mayhem Simulator and Angry Birds: Destruction Simulator)	Simulator / role-playing	The twenty-eighth game of the series, available exclusively on the MMOG platform Roblox. Features an open world map with tasks, a customizable bird, drivable cars, houses, and the ability to hatch and raise hatchlings. In the Angry Birds: Mayhem Simulator sub-game, it features a map with hatchlings that can open treasure chests with coins. In the Angry Birds: Destruction Simulator sub-game, it features structures which the player needs to destroy with their hatchlings.
January 2022	Angry Birds Journey	Puzzle	The twenty-ninth game of the series. Features similar mechanics and level structure of Angry Birds 2 albeit with chapters. The players has five randomly-chosen birds with different abilities to use in order to complete the level objectives and advance to the next level.
July 2025	Angry Birds Bounce		The thirtieth game in the series. It is a block-breaker game playable via Apple Arcade.[45]

Arcade games

Release date	Game	Developer	Genre	Description
2015	Angry Birds Arcade	ICE, Play Mechanix	Redemption	Features a mechanical sling shot and a 55" inch touch screen.[46] Won the 2015 IAAPA Brass Ring Award for Best New Product.[47]
2019	The Angry Birds Movie 2: Prank Attack VR	Hologate[48]	Virtual reality	A game for up to four players based on The Angry Birds Movie 2.[49][50]
2021	Angry Birds Coin Crash	LAI Games	Coin pusher	A tower-building coin pusher available in two and three player versions.[51]
2024	Angry Birds Boom!	Raw Thrills, Play Mechanix	Redemption	Features force-feedback launchers and a 65" display.[52]

Upcoming games

Release date	Game	Genre	Description
TBA	Angry Birds Block Quest	Puzzle	A casual block-based puzzle game. The game received negative feedback upon its soft launch for using artificial intelligence art.[53]
TBA	Angry Birds Double Crossed	Action	A movie-themed, multiplayer reality game show.[54]
TBA	Angry Birds Launch It!	Racing	A movie-themed, racing video game.[55]
TBA	Angry Birds Next	TBA	An upcoming game "with a twist". The game seems to be what the surveys for Double Crossed and Launch It! lead up to.[56]
TBA	Angry Birds Racing	Racing	A 2D online racing game.
TBA	Angry Birds Crazy Golf	Sports	An Angry Birds-themed miniature golf game.[57]
TBA	Angryverse Brawl	Fighting	An Angry Birds-themed fighting game.[58]
TBA	Bad Piggies 2	Puzzle	A sequel to Bad Piggies.[59] The game was soft launched in 2023.[60]

Compilations

Released	Game	Genre	Description
2012	Angry Birds Trilogy	Puzzle	A compilation of the first three Angry Birds games (the original, Seasons, and Rio) for video game consoles.[61]

Cancelled

These games were soft-launched in select countries but were permanently discontinued after a few months, never making a full release.

Released	Discontinued	Game	Genre	Developer	Description
Unreleased	April 2016	Agri Birds	Simulation, visual novel, horror	—	While it was revealed as an April Fools' joke, it was indeed in development.[62] This game would have featured Angry Birds with an appearance similar to their movie counterparts, as they engage in farming, horror survival, shooting, etc., with a full storyline.
April 2016	December 2016	Angry Birds Football	Puzzle	New Star Games	Formerly known as Angry Birds Goal!, it involves birds and pigs as they appear in The Angry Birds Movie, as they face each other in football matches.[63]
May 2016	October 2016	Angry Birds Ace Fighter	Shoot 'em up	Siamgame Mobile	Formerly called Angry Birds Sky Fighters, birds fly and shoot pigs with their fighter jets while rescuing creatures that give them passive effects.[64]
May 2016	December 2016	Angry Birds Holiday	Simulation	Sproing	It involves most bird characters from The Angry Birds Movie, who run vacation resort services for incoming pigs to distract them from stealing the eggs.
March – April 2017	June 2017	Angry Birds Islands	Role-playing, simulation	NHN Studio629	The pigs collect and create resources, while birds fight against monsters to rescue piglets or deliver resources in quests.[65]
February 2017	October 2017	Angry Birds Dice	Board game	Joycity Corporation	It involves birds and pigs as they appear in The Angry Birds Movie, in which players attempt to collect property and bankrupt their opponents by having them land on it.[66]
February 2018	June 2019	Angry Birds Island	Puzzle	Mybo	Also known as Angry Birds Blast 2 and Angry Birds Blast Island, it was a free-to-play 3D tap-to-match game similar to Angry Birds Blast!.
Unreleased	May 2019	Angry Birds Space Assault!		K Lab America	An unreleased game by K Lab America which was planned to be a spinoff to Angry Birds Space. It was described as a "3D action strategy collectable game". The project was first made public in May 2019 when the designer Glen Dahlgren uploaded the contents to his portfolio.[67]
February 2020	September 2020	Angry Birds Tennis	Tennis	Rovio Entertainment	A sports video game based on tennis, featuring competitive multiplayer gameplay and numerous unlockable characters.[68] After the soft launch phase ended, Rovio confirmed that the game would not continue development.[69]
March 2020	December 2020	Angry Birds Legends	Role-playing	Rovio Entertainment	It was similar to Angry Birds Epic except it uses 3D graphics, cards and the birds and pigs team up with humans.[70]

Promotional

From 2011 to 17, Angry Birds has collaborated with many other companies and released variations of the game in the respective companies' theme. Most of them were Flash-based. All of the games featured exclusive levels and elements that aid in promotion.

• Angry Birds Chrome^[71]
• Angry Birds Google+
• Angry Birds Free with Magic (specific NFC-compatible Nokia phones only)
• Angry Birds Volcano (Fazer's Tyrkisk Peber Volcano)
• Angry Birds Breakfast (Nesquik cereal)
• Angry Birds in The Hunt For The Golden Pistachio (Wonderful Pistachios)^[72]
• Angry Birds Vuela Tazos (PepsiCo's Tazos)
• Angry Birds Cheetos
• Angry Birds Lotus F1 Team
• Angry Birds McDonald's (China only)
• Angry Birds Coca-Cola (Chinese Olympic team partnership, China only)
• Angry Birds Heikki (Heikki Kovalainen partnership)
• Angry Birds Telepizza
• Angry Birds Fuji TV
• Angry Birds in Ultrabook Adventure (Intel's Ultrabook)
• Angry Birds Philadelphia Eagles
• Angry Birds Starburst
• Angry Birds Radox

Cameos

The following games feature the Angry Birds and Bad Piggies as playable characters or exclusive rewards featuring them, along with some miscellaneous references to the franchise.

Application	Genre	Description
LINE Rangers	Role-playing	Some characters appear as limited-time units.
Puzzles & Dragons	Puzzle, role-playing	Characters from Angry Birds, Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds Epic appear as monsters in a collab dungeon.
Sonic Dash	Endless runner, platformer	Features Red, Chuck and Bomb as playable characters, only collectible in the crossover event with Angry Birds Epic. Ten years afterwards, Red and Chuck as they appear in post-film material would be added as playable characters during a crossover with the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
Amazing Alex	Puzzle	The level background for "The Classroom" episode has a mini alphabet chart denoting the letters "Angry" and "Bird". The piggy bank item is also based on the pigs from Angry Birds.
Sky Punks	Endless runner, platformer	Features Angry Birds as outfits for characters.
Tiny Thief	Point-and-click adventure	Level 5-1 features a puzzle element similar to Angry Birds.
Retry	Adventure	The first ad-break level featured in Retry is based on Rovio's most recent Angry Birds game at the time, Angry Birds Epic.
Just Dance 2016	Dance	Features a remix of the Angry Birds main theme known as "Balkan Blast Remix" as a dance level, which features Red, Chuck, Bomb, and a Minion Pig.
Roblox	MMORPG, game creation	The Angry Birds Movie themed virtual accessories were obtainable during a collaboration event. Additionally, there is an official Angry Birds-themed experience on the platform titled Angry Birds: Bird Island, which allows players to explore the island and raise hatchlings.
PUBG Mobile	Battle royale	The Angry Birds Movie themed weapon and accessory skins were obtainable during a collaboration event.[73]
Duolingo	Education	Features Red as a second cameo character (besides the Duolingo owl) on splash screens during the middle of a lesson.
Minecraft	Sandbox	Skins and a game mode based on The Angry Birds Movie and Angry Birds: Summer Madness were made available as downloadable content.[74]
Sonic Forces: Speed Battle	Endless runner, platformer	Red and Chuck as they appear in post-film material were added as playable characters during a crossover with the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.

Media

See also: Rovio Animation § Filmography

Early on in the franchise's history, Rovio investigated ways to expand the Angry Birds brand, including merchandise, television shows and films. In 2010, Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio Entertainment, envisioned a feature film in the stop-motion animation style reminiscent of Aardman Animations, famous for the Wallace & Gromit franchise.^[75] To that end, Rovio acquired a Helsinki-based animation studio to prepare Angry Birds short cartoons on for Nickelodeon Extra,^[76][77] the first of which was a Christmas special named "Wreck the Halls" that debuted in December 2011.^[78] He acknowledged that such a film would be years away, and that Rovio must keep the characters relevant until then, by producing sequels and new adaptations of the game.^[75]

Television adaptations

Angry Birds Toons, a TV series based on the game, made its debut on 16 March 2013. Angry Birds Toons was released through third-party video distribution platforms, including Comcast's Xfinity On-Demand in the US, Samsung Smart TVs, and Roku set-top boxes. It is also available in a number of countries on traditional television broadcasts. Angry Birds Toons is still accessible on mobile devices by an additional Angry Birds Toons channel on all of the Angry Birds apps homescreens.^[79] The DVD versions of the TV series were released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The series has a total of 3 seasons.

On 11 April 2014, Rovio released Piggy Tales, a stop motion animated series. It tells the stories of the Minion Pigs' life.^{[citation needed]}

On 1 November 2014, Rovio released Angry Birds Stella, an animated series telling the stories of Stella's life and that of her friends on their own island.^{[citation needed]}

On 3 July 2015, Rovio released the Rocket Science Show, an educational live-action-animated series, the NASA tell viewers facts about planets in the Solar System.^{[citation needed]}

On 12 July 2015, Real Angry Birds, inspired by the game Angry Birds, premiered on Nat Geo Wild.^{[citation needed]}

In 2016, Rovio released Fun Game Coding, another educational live-action-animated series, containing insightful instructions from tech-savvy Rovio employees.^{[citation needed]}

On 10 March 2017, Rovio released Angry Birds Blues, an animated series based on The Angry Birds Movie. It shows the lives of the Blues having fun, while the Hatchlings were doing random stuff and ruining their plans.^{[citation needed]}

On 3 July 2017, Netflix and KidsClick picked up every Angry Birds Toons, Angry Birds Stella, and Piggy Tales episode in the form of 23 compilations.^{[citation needed]}

On 1 June 2018, U.S. television production company Big Fish Entertainment announced that they would be partnering with Rovio to create a game show based on Angry Birds currently^[when?] called Angry Birds Challenge.^[80]

On 9 June 2018, a series titled Angry Birds BirLd Cup was released on YouTube. It follows two teams (Team Red and Team Chuck) of rambunctious kids ready to put their soccer skills to the test. With Everton stars Wayne Rooney, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Tom Davies, and Cenk Tosun on hand to lend their expertise and officiate the competition, the two teams will go head to head in a series of soccer-centric challenges to earn points. The team that scores the most points will claim the illustrious BirLd Cup, and BirLdwide acclaim.^[81]

On 3 October 2018, a short, three-episode series titled Angry Birds Zero Gravity was released on YouTube.^[82]

On 17 November 2018, a series titled Angry Birds on the Run was released on YouTube. The series focuses on the birds being sent to the real world from a girl's phone, causing mayhem while the pigs are looking for them.^{[citation needed]}

In late 2018, Rovio announced that a new, long-form Angry Birds television series titled Angry Birds: Summer Madness is in production and was originally set for release in 2021 on Netflix.^[83] It was pushed and was released in January 2022.^[84] It focuses on Red, Stella, Bomb, and Chuck as teenagers in summer camp causing mayhem with their teacher being the Mighty Eagle.

On 1 June 2019, a series titled Angry Birds MakerSpace was released on YouTube.^[85] It features the birds and pigs working together in a shared workspace.

On 18 January 2020, a series titled Angry Birds Slingshot Stories was released on YouTube.^[86] It features structures from the original Angry Birds game and shows the birds and pigs' life outside the levels.

On 31 August 2020, a new series titled Angry Birds Bubble Trouble was released on Amazon Freetime Unlimited and YouTube. It shows Red, Chuck, Bomb, Silver, and Stella in their Dream Blast designs having fun and dreaming.

On 6 June 2023, a new long-form television series titled Angry Birds Mystery Island which is in development and is set to be released on Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Kids+. The series focus on a new group of Hatchlings, trying to survive on an uncharted island.^[87]

Film adaptations

An animated film adaptation, The Angry Birds Movie, was released on 20 May 2016^[88] which fully anthropomorphizes the characters for the first time, giving them limbs and voices. Developed, produced and financed by Rovio Entertainment,^[88] it is animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks^[89] and distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Entertainment under their Columbia Pictures banner.^[88] It is directed by animation veterans Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly in their directorial debut.^[90] Jon Vitti wrote the film's screenplay,^[91] and John Cohen^[92] and Catherine Winder^[91] served as the producers.^[90] Rovio also hired David Maisel, former executive producer of Marvel Studios films such as Iron Man, to be the executive producer of its feature-length films.^[92]

A sequel, The Angry Birds Movie 2 was released on 13 August 2019^{[93][94][95][96]} which was co-produced by both Rovio Animation and Sony Pictures Animation. Directed by the creator of The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, Thurop Van Orman, the sequel breaks from the series' source material by having the Birds and Pigs ending their rivalry to form an alliance to battle a larger threat,^[97] as well as becoming one of the most critically well-received video game film adaptations ever made, garnering an unprecedented score of 73% from Rotten Tomatoes.^[98]

A second sequel, The Angry Birds Movie 3, was announced on 6 June 2024, with DNEG Animation and Rovio's new parent company Sega Sammy Group producing without the involvement of Sony Pictures.^[99] The film is scheduled to be released in theatres on 29 January 2027, by Paramount Pictures.^[100]

Merchandise

The series' cast of fictional characters have been adapted into several forms of merchandise.

Toys

There have been several toys made from Angry Birds characters.^[75] The game's official website offers stuffed plush versions of the birds and pigs for sale, along with T-shirts featuring the game's logo and characters.^[101] In May 2011, Mattel released an Angry Birds board game, titled "Angry Birds: Knock on Wood".^[102] Over 10 million Angry Birds toys have been sold thus far.^[76] Rovio opened the first official Angry Birds retail store in Helsinki on 11 November 2011 at 11:11 a.m. local time.^[103] It expects to open its next retail store somewhere in China, considered the game's fastest-growing market.^[103] Merchandise has been successful, with 45% of Rovio's revenues in 2012 coming from branded merchandise.^[104]

The most notable Angry Birds toy line is Telepods, manufactured by Hasbro. Originally created for Angry Birds Star Wars II,^[105] Angry Birds Go!, Angry Birds Stella, and Angry Birds Transformers.^[106] Telepods are a series of toys-to-life figures using a similar digital toy hybrid concept as Skylanders or Disney Infinity characters.^[107] These are figures used to "teleport" a character of the corresponding figure into the game by scanning a miniature QR code via the device's camera. The Telepod platform technology was invented by ReToy, a bMuse company, in partnership with Hasbro.^[108]

In 2012, Mattel produced Hot Wheels cars based on Angry Birds characters: Red, the Blues, Chuck, and a Minion Pig.^{[citation needed]}

In 2016, Lego released six construction sets based on The Angry Birds Movie.^[109]

Print publications

In 2011, Rovio published a cookbook titled Bad Piggies: Egg Recipes, along with doodle books based on some characters of the game. After a few weeks of the release of Angry Birds Space, they also released Angry Birds Space-themed books about numbers, alphabets, and stickers.

On 20 March 2012, National Geographic published a paperback book titled Angry Birds Space: A Furious Flight Into The Final Frontier^[110][111] shortly before the release of Angry Birds Space which became available on 22 March 2012. National Geographic also has a book titled Angry Birds Feathered Fun for learning all about birds.^[112]

In the same year, Rovio created a contest with the prize Angry Birds: Hatching a Universe, a book about the franchise and all the characters. It was released for sale by Titan Books on 24 May 2013;^[113] And again by Insight Editions on 4 June 2013.^[114] The book was written by Danny Gordon with a foreword by Mikael Hed.

As of 10 March 2014, IDW Publishing announced^[115] that they will be publishing Angry Birds Comics starting in June 2014, with Paul Tobin being the writer.^[116]

In the summer of 2017, GoComics announced that it would be running a comic strip series based on the world of The Angry Birds Movie, with each issue available to view on its website.^[117] The strip ran for over a year, from 3 August 2017 to 20 September 2018.

Food products

In early 2012, Olvi started to manufacture Angry Birds soft drinks, after licensing with Rovio^[118] with two different tastes: Tropic (tropical fruits)^[118] and Paradise (pineapple-mandarin).^[118] In September 2012 Olvi released two new tastes to the soft drink collection: Lagoon (pear-apple) and Space Comet (orange-cola).^[119][120]

Parks and attractions

Angry Birds Land in the Särkänniemi amusement park in Tampere, Finland

Angry Birds Activity Park in Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Angry Birds Land

The game's characters have been used, officially or otherwise, in amusement park attractions. In September 2011, the Window of the World theme park in Changsha, China opened an unlicensed Angry Birds attraction.^[121] Visitors to the park use a large slingshot to launch stuffed versions of the bird characters at green balloons that represent the pigs.^[121]

Upon learning of the attraction, Rovio Entertainment was reported to be considering working with the theme park to officially license it.^[103] In March 2012, Rovio announced plans for an official Angry Birds Land, that opened on 28 April 2012, at the Särkänniemi adventure park in Finland.^[122] Angry Birds Land opened in May 2014 at Johor Bahru City Centre in Malaysia.^[123]

The first Angry Birds themed park in the UK was created in Sundown Adventureland, in the Nottinghamshire countryside.^[124]

It was announced that UK theme park Thorpe Park would open their own Angry Birds Land themed area within the park, opening in May 2014, with a 4D cinema showing a 10-minute Angry Birds film with 4D effects, and a slight re-theme of existing drop tower ride Detonator.^[125] This Angry Birds Land operated until the end of the 2023 season, being rebranded for the 2024 season.^[126]

Angry Birds Activity Parks

Rovio opened "Activity Parks" of the game. The first one opened in Lightwater Valley, England, with dance floors, playgrounds that include slides, and touchscreen devices for visitors to play Angry Birds.^{[citation needed]} The attraction also opened in Vuokatti, Finland, with obstacle courses and races,^[127] and a separate "Angry Birds Town" with kids' cars.

A park opened in Malaysia, but closed after six years on 5 April 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[128]

Angry Birds Space Encounter

In June 2013, Rovio and NASA opened the Angry Birds Space Encounter theme park at the Kennedy Space Center.^[129] It offers creating characters and shooting birds at pigs, as in the video game. It also opened in the Space Center Houston.

Angry Birds World

Angry Birds World theme park at Doha Festival City opened in April 2019; the indoor part had opened in June 2018.^[130]

Angry Birds Not-So-Mini Golf

Rovio opened a miniature Angry Birds golf course at American Dream Meadowlands in East Rutherford NJ USA on 1 October 2020.^[131][132]

Reception and legacy

Aggregate review scores
As of 5 September 2017.

Game	Metacritic
Angry Birds	80
Angry Birds Seasons	78
Angry Birds Rio	87
Angry Birds Friends	65
Angry Birds Space	83
Angry Birds Star Wars	88
Angry Birds Star Wars II	77
Angry Birds Go!	60
Angry Birds Epic	70
Angry Birds Transformers	70
Angry Birds Fight!	54
Angry Birds 2	66
Angry Birds Action!	75
Angry Birds Blast!	66
Angry Birds Evolution	TBC
Angry Birds Match	TBC
Angry Birds Island	TBC
Angry Birds Dream Blast	TBC
Angry Birds Reloaded	TBC
Angry Birds Journey	TBC

The first game received critical acclaim for gameplay and style, and is considered one of the greatest video games ever made.^[133]

According to Metacritic, only four games in the franchise received highly positive reviews with a score of 80% and above, while the two games received mixed reviews with a score of 60% and below.

Global impact

Television

The Angry Birds characters have been referenced in television programs throughout the world. The Israeli comedy show Eretz Nehederet (in English: a Wonderful Country), one of the nation's most popular TV programs, satirized recent failed Israeli-Palestinian peace attempts by featuring the Angry Birds in peace negotiations with the pigs. Clips of the segment went viral, getting viewers from all around the world. The sketch received favorable coverage from a variety of independent blogs such as digitaltrends.com,^[134] hotair.com^[135] and intomobile.com,^[136] as well as from online news media agencies such as Haaretz,^[137] The Christian Science Monitor,^[138] The Guardian,^[139] and MSNBC.^[140] American television hosts Conan O'Brien, Jon Stewart and Daniel Tosh have referenced the game in comedy sketches on their respective series, Conan, The Daily Show, and Tosh.0.^{[141][142][143]} In the 30 Rock episode "Plan B", guest star Aaron Sorkin laments to Liz Lemon, "Our craft is dying while people are playing Angry Birds and poking each other on Facebook". He then provides a tip for Liz to improve her score in the game.^{[citation needed]} In February 2011, American journalist Jake Tapper mockingly introduced U.S. Senator Chris Coons as the "Angry Birds champion of the Senate" during the National Press Club's annual dinner.^[144] Some of the game's more notable fans include ex-Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom, who plays the iPad version of the game, and author Salman Rushdie, who claims he is "something of a master at Angry Birds".^[145] Basketball star Kevin Durant is an avid fan of Angry Birds, and regularly plays other NBA stars in matches, although he is wary of cheating.^[146] In August 2011, the Milwaukee Brewers played the Angry Birds theme song during the pre-game introductions of the arch-rival St. Louis Cardinals players, in reference to former Cardinals' manager Tony LaRussa's propensity to bean opposing players.^{[citation needed]} Angry Birds also appears briefly, for comic relief, during a scene in the 2013 film G.I. Joe: Retaliation, in which Zartan plays the game while waiting for the world leaders' response to his threats of annihilation.^{[citation needed]} Angry Birds were featured in the 2013 Helsinki episode of Veep.^{[citation needed]} Angry Birds was referenced in the film The Starving Games, a parody of The Hunger Games.^{[citation needed]} A group in the Indian show Dance+ have done a dance based on Angry Birds.^{[citation needed]} Angry Birds was referenced in the Family Guy episode "Turban Cowboy" where one failed skydiving attempt by Peter results in him landing in a level. The TV show Robot Chicken also parodied Angry Birds in one sketch.^{[citation needed]}

A screenshot from the T-Mobile advertisement. The advertisement was shown in Spain by Cosmote.

Advertisements

Angry Birds and its characters have been featured in advertisements for other products. In March 2011, the characters began appearing in a series of advertisements for Microsoft's Bing search engine.^[147] At the 2011 South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, Nokia used scrims on a downtown building to project an advertisement for its new N8 handset that included the game's characters.^[148] A June 2011 T-Mobile advertisement filmed in Barcelona, Spain included a real-life mock-up of the game in a city plaza,^[149] while Nokia used the game in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to promote an attempt to set a world record for the largest number of people playing a single mobile game.^[150] Finnair has also used Angry Birds in their advertising, including taping an Airbus A340 airliner with the Angry Birds figures and holding an Angry Birds tournament on board a flight to Singapore.^[151] Rovio has also prepared a number of web-based promotional variants of Angry Birds themed around creations of other companies, such as Finnish snack company Fazer,^[152] Spanish pizza delivery chain Telepizza,^[153] and Japanese television network Fuji TV,^[154] as well as promotions of American brands including Cheetos,^[155] Wonderful Pistachios^[156] and Coca-Cola.^[157] In November 2013, Indian brand Parle started a marketing campaign in which a trading card is included in each packet of Parle's Wafers and it included a related contest to win Angry Birds merchandise.^[158] In February 2016, Cadbury India had Angry Birds small figurines or tattoos in Cadbury Gems packs or Surprise balls.^[159] In June 2016, Kurkure India started an offer to win daily themed prizes and a trip to Angry Birds Activity Park in Malaysia.^[160]

Hockey VM mascot

Kovalainen wearing an Angry Birds-themed helmet at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix

Finnish Formula One driver Heikki Kovalainen used an Angry Birds-themed helmet in the 2012 season, following a sponsorship deal with Rovio. Angry Birds also sponsored the Lotus F1 Team that year, with its logo on the top of each Lotus Renault F1 car's nosecone. As part of the deal, fellow Finn Kimi Räikkönen ran an Angry Birds 'Space' logo on his branded caps.^[161]

Hockey Bird, an angry hockey playing bird, was the official mascot of the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships. It was designed by Toni Kysenius and Rovio Entertainment.^[162]

Premier League association football club Everton F.C. signed a deal with Rovio in 2017, whereby the Angry Birds logo appears on the club shirt's left sleeve beginning from the 2017–18 Premier League campaign.^[163]

Video games

The game's popularity has spawned knock-off and parody games that utilize the same basic mechanics as Angry Birds. For example, Angry Turds features monkeys hurling feces and other objects at hunters who have stolen their babies.^[164] Another game, titled Chicks'n'Vixens and released in beta form on Windows Phone devices, replaces the birds and pigs with chickens and foxes, respectively.^[165] The developer of Chicks'n'Vixens intended the game as a challenge to Rovio Mobile, which stated at the time that a Windows Phone port of Angry Birds would not be ready until later in 2011.^[165] The Angry Birds theme song (Balkan Blast Remix) and its characters appear in Just Dance 2016.^[166]

Religion

Angry Birds has inspired works of religious analogy. A five-part essay titled "Angry Birds Yoga — How to Eliminate the Green Pigs in Your Life" was written by Giridhari Dasa of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness of Brazil, utilizing the characters and gameplay mechanics to explain various concepts of yoga in Gaudiya Vaishnavism as understood and interpreted by the Hare Krishna.^{[167][168][169][170][171]} The piece attracted much media attention, in Brazil and abroad, for its unique method of philosophico-religious presentation.^{[172][173][174][175]} The piece was also recognized and appreciated by Rovio Mobile's Peter Vesterbacka, who was prompted to comment on Twitter, "Very cool! I can see Angry Birds Yoga becoming a worldwide craze;-)".^[167]

Education

Rovio also launched the Angry Birds Playground in partnership with University of Helsinki. Based on the Finnish national curriculum the program covers maths, science, music, language, arts & crafts, physical education and social interaction. Focused on preschoolers of kindergarten age, the program introduced interactive learning material including books, posters, games and digital content.^[176] In 2015, a spin-off from the Rovio Angry Birds Playground was established as Fun Academy by co-founder and CEO Sanna Lukander, former Rovio's vice president of learning and book publishing, and co-founder Peter Vesterbacka ^[fi], former Rovio's 'Mighty Eagle'.^[177] Fun Academy is currently^[when?] present in 9 countries across the world.^{[citation needed]}

Controversy

Gaza war

During the Gaza war, graphic ads supporting Israel showed up in Angry Birds and other video games for children. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it had instructed advertisers to block the ads for viewers under the age of 18. Rovio subsequently banned the ads manually.^[178]

Leaking user data

In January 2014, it was revealed that Angry Birds was considered a "leaky app" and was used to collect data about its users including their sexual orientation and location by the National Security Agency (NSA) and GCHQ. In retaliation, anti-NSA hackers defaced Rovio's website. Claims were made by Edward Snowden that the app was leaky and that they were capable of siphoning data.

According to The Register, the information was leaked through the in-game advertisement code like that embedded by Millennial Media: "Millennial's tracking software generates a personal record for each user that can store information from their political affiliation and sexual orientation to whether their marital state was single, married, divorced, engaged or 'swinger'. This information is used to target in-app ads more effectively, and can be collected by UK and US intelligence agencies for analysis."^[179] In a statement to the press, Rovio denied that they were providing any information to the intelligence agencies, but did not exclude the possibility that their advertisers might do so.^[180]

Following this revelation, on 29 January, the Angry Birds site was defaced by hackers who replaced it with "Spying Birds" via a DNS hijacking attack. According to Rovio, "The defacement was caught in minutes and corrected immediately".^[180] The Syrian Electronic Army tweeted after the incident that the attack had been carried out by "a friend" of theirs.^[181]

See also

• Boom Blox