The developers of Rovio, known in particular for the Angry Birds games, have decided to remove the remake of the first opus from the Google Play Store. Cause ? The title clearly overshadows the studio’s other free-to-play games a bit too much. Explanation.
We no longer present Angry Birds. The angry little birds created by the Rovio teams have become a cult following over the years, even to the point of being adapted for the cinema into an animated film of the same name.
Since the release of the 1st part on iOS in December 2009, Rovio developers have launched a veritable galaxy of Angry Birds gamesnotably composed of Angry Birds Friends, Journey, Dream Blast or even Angry Birds Evolution and Angry Birds 2.
In April 2022, Rovio gave fans an unexpected gift by releasing Rovio Classics: Angry Birds, a brand new remake of the first game. Namely, on this occasion, the studio decides to apply an admission ticket to the game €0.99 (€1.19 now)while the other titles of the license are all free.
A remake way too popular in the eyes of Rovio
For many players, it’s a cheap price, especially to find the levels of the first Angry Birds without ads or microtransactions. In fact, the game has clearly found its audience. But rather incongruously, the huge success of the Angry Bird remake doesn’t suit Rovioon the contrary.
In an official statement posted to Twitter on February 21, 2023, the studio announces to everyone’s surprise the outright removal of the game from the Google Play Store, from February 23. The reason ? The popularity of the Angry Birds remake visibly hurts the profitability of other titles in the Rovio catalog.
“We’ve reviewed the business case for Rovio Classics: Angry Birds and due to the game’s impact on our wider game portfolio, we’ve decided that Rovio Classics: Angry Birds will be removed from the Google Play Store on Thursday, February 23.r,” the studio writes on the social network.
A paid remake that overshadows the studio’s free games
So if the game disappears from the Google store, it will remain available in the App Store… Under a different name Red’s first flight. Pretty smart as a method. iOS players typing Angry Birds into the App Store will inevitably find the license’s free-to-play games, not the paid remake. And who says free-to-play means ads and microtransactions, and by extension more money for the studio.
Note that if you have already purchased Rovio Classics: Angry Birds on both Android and iOS, you will still be able to launch the game after it has been removed from the Play Store and renamed in the App Store.
