Angry Birds, the iconic first game from the series, is set to be pulled from the Google Play Store on account of its popularity. And while its iOS version won’t suffer the same fate, it will in fact receive a new name that will make it hard to find.
Developer Rovio has made it clear that the popularity of the original Angry Birds is having a negative impact on the newer games from the franchise. This was also the reason why the game was made unavailable by the company in the past, only to bring it back as a paid version.
While other Angry Birds games have adopted the free-to-play model, this one can be purchased with a small one-time payment on both the Google Play Store and the App Store. Despite this, it has seemingly been embraced by fans ever since its re-release.
But free-to-play games are the largest source of revenue for Rovio thanks to the microtransactions in them. With the original Angry Birds hogging the attention of fans, the newer titles are most definitely suffering.
In a statement, the company said that it has taken this decision due to Angry Birds’ “impact on our wider games portfolio.” It added, “We understand this is sad news for many fans, as well as the team that has worked hard to make Rovio Classics: Angry Birds a reality.”
Rovio ended its statement by driving attention towards its other popular games, Angry Birds 2, Angry Birds Friends, and Angry Birds Journey.
February 23 is the final date on which Angry Birds will be available for download on the Play Store. Those who already have it installed on their devices will certainly be able to continue playing it though.