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RCR was doing a bit of bird watching at GDC in San Francisco yesterday, only to land ourself an Angry Bird, in the form of Mighty Eagle Peter Verterbacka himself, CMO at Rovio.
Verterbacka told RCR the popular game was doing better than ever, with tens of millions of downloads every month. “It’s been accelerating very, very nicely” he said.
Verterbacka also told us the game would be getting a big update just in time for Saint Patrick’s day, “it’s all about going green and there’s going to be more pigs than ever,” he confided.
Of course, the firm is also gearing up for its big launch this month with 20th century fox – for Angry Birds Rio – on March 22nd. Verterbacka assures us this will be on all the platforms, “Android, iPhone, Nokia, Palm, you name it…” and added “It’s a really, really great looking game.”
Game play aside, the firm is also making a killing in merchandize sales, having managed to flog over two million plush toys over the last few months. There’s plenty more merchandize coming down the pipeline too, from sweatshirts to more and more pigs.
“Pigs are proving very popular in all forms and shapes” said Verterbacka, though he admitted the firm would have to ramp up the PR for people’s least popular character, the boomerang bird. “There will be a big PR push,” he told us.
While the little birds are nesting well, Verterbacka also has high flying hopes for Rovio’s big mighty eagle plush toy, coming out soon too. “It’s not only big but HUGE” he explained.
Mighty Eagle is pretty huge for Rovio’s bank balance too, with 40% of all new users downloading Mighty Eagle on iPhone. According to Verterbacka, “We’ve sold millions at 99cents on iPhone,” and the firm will bring Mighty Eagle to all platforms that support in-app purchases.
Take a look at the interview below for more juicy tidbits from Verterbacka.
