Rovio has announced that they are going to remove the original Android version of Angry Birds from the play store on 23rd of February
Angry Birds is a casual puzzle video game released in 2009, developed by Rovio Entertainment. Developers have focused on the making flock of colorful angry birds who try to save their eggs from green-colored pigs which makes the game popular among the gaming community in a short period of time. Different versions of this game are made for PCs and for video game consoles after it’s gaming market saw a massive boom in sell. Animated series along with two films are made on Angry Birds, which has over 5 billion downloads across all platforms including both the regular and special editions.
End of An Era: As Angry Birds Will No Longer Available on Play Store
The original version of Angry Birds was released way back in 2009 and later marketed as Rovio Classics: Angry Birds. This game soon became popular and crossed more than four billion downloads worldwide.
Rovio has already removed a large number of Angry Birds games including the 2009 original version from the app store in 2019, and later claimed that it was for testing purpose. Re-releasing the game with the original title under the name Rovio Classics: Angry Birds in April 2022, publishers decided to pull it off again as according to them this game is impacting the performance of their other games.
As we are moving forward with time there’s a rise of new mobile games and the preferences of gamers are changing day by day, so Rovio Entertainment has decided to delist it from Play Store. This means that the game will no longer be available on Android devices, but you can play the game even after it will be removed from the Play Store app if you have already installed the game on your device. Adding this, Rovio stated that this game will not be removed from the apple store but it will be renamed as “Red’s First Flight”.
So if you are a fan of Rovio Classics: Angry Birds, then you will definitely make sure to install the game and to run it in a working condition before the date comes.
Official Statement By Rovio Entertainment
Rovio Entertainment shared the news among the gaming community through their Twitter handle, where they shared the news of the game’s delisting from the Google Play Store. The developer also stated that this game will be removed from the Google Play store on Thursday, and it will be renamed “Red’s First Flight” in the Apple’s App Store.
Adding this they stated that, they took this game from the Google Play Store because this game is impacting the performances of their own game, including Angry Birds 2, Angry Birds Dream Blast, Angry Birds Friends, Angry Birds Journey, Angry Birds Reloaded, and Angry Birds Minecraft.
“We have reviewed the business case of Rovio Classics: Angry Birds, and due to the game’s impact on our wider games portfolio, we have decided that Rovio Classics: Angry Birds will be unlisted from the Google Play Store on Thursday, February 23,” a statement from the company reads.
“Additionally, the game will be renamed to Red’s First Flight in the App Store pending further review.
“Rovio Classics: Angry Birds will remain playable on devices on which the game has been downloaded, even after it has been unlisted.”
It added: “We understand that this is sad news for many fans, as well as the team that has worked hard to make Rovio Classics: Angry Birds a reality. We are extremely grateful to the Angry Birds fans who have shown their love of the brand and this game from the beginning.
“We hope those fans can continue to bring that passion to our live Angry Birds slingshot games such as Angry Birds 2, Angry Birds Friends, and Angry Birds Journey, where our goal every day is to craft the best possible experience for players.”
Why Rovio Decided To Remove It From The Google Play Store?
This insane move from Rovio Entertainment is not entirely unexpected, as in the recent years Rovio is focusing more on newer games which comes up with a freemium model, where the game is free to play but the company earns a lot of money through microtransactions.
Currently, this game is available as Rovio Classics: Angry Birds on Indian Google Play Store listed for Rs 95. The publisher has released several free spinoffs of Angry Birds, including Angry Birds Star Wars and Angry Birds Rio, as well as a sequel to the original game, Angry Birds 2.
Angry Birds Community manager Shawn Buckelew explained the reason for the retake of this game from Google’s Play Store in more explicit terms on the Angry Birds Discord server.
“As the statement says, it is negatively impacting our other games, which is what we as a company have to focus on,” Buckelew said.
Following this, he quoted that, “If those other games do not improve and grow, then the outlook of the entire company changes. It’s harder to create new games or work on new projects. I’m sure that’s not something you would want.”
According to the developer, you can still manage to play the game if you have already downloaded the game before 23rd February. This game is available on Apple Store named “Red’s First Flight”, so there’s no need to worry for IOS users.
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