The original Angry birds game, which was removed from the mobile storefront in 2009, was listed back in 2022 on iOS and Android devices. The decision of taking down the game was a shock to the gamers. So why did Angry Birds decline?
Introduction
Does this game even need an introduction? Angry Birds is a successful mobile game created by Rovio Entertainment and was officially released in 2009. The concept of this game was so simple but unique that people could not stop themselves from being addicted to this game. It became a global phenomenon, and the name of the game was known in every household. The angry bird wasn’t just another game, it’s the most popular free game of all time.
The Angry Birds series has over 4.5 billion downloads to this date. The number alone explains the demand for this game. The angry bird wasn’t an overnight success, Rovio’s story of building Angry Bird was full of struggle. But paid off in the long run. The concept of this game is simple, yet the interaction has sucked so much time from the people. The game was to slingshot the angry birds into the air and strike pigs off the pedestals. Yeah, it might sound like a dumb idea, but people were hooked on this game. This was how Angry Birds took over the world. Does this raise questions as to why did Angry Birds decline?
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Why did Angry Birds decline?
You might be wondering why did Angry Birds decline even after reaching such a height of success. The big downfall began after a series of small controversies. Even though angry birds were on top, it was rumored to be called a leaky app that sold personal information such as gender, location, etc. of its underage users. After such claims were made, Rovio officially stated that they never shared such details about their users but there is a possibility that their advertisers might have shared such data. These claims weren’t the reason as most gaming companies now face such claims.
The reason why did Angry Birds decline or why did Angry Birds die is, at first, the company solely focused on making new series of Angry Birds but after some time, they started making game series that were not related to the classic Angry Birds game. They decided to branch out and released angry bird go, a racing game in late 2013.
While that game didn’t do well, they completely changed the game formula by releasing Angry Bird: Epic (turn-based, RPG game). This is where everything went wrong. The fall of these games was due to the fall in scope and quality of these games. While the older games were mainly focused on the simple arcade nature, the new games did not have the same essence as compared to the old ones.
The failure of this new series affected the company a lot, there were massive losses and hundreds of employees were laid off. They decided to go back to basics after such extreme majors which led to the Angry Birds 2 release date on 14th August 2019. It was like a continuation of the original Angry birds game with new levels and a better art style. The game was modernized while keeping the original gameplay. The new features impressed the customers, and this was seen as a way to revive the franchise. But Rovio kept making mistakes.
Rovio entertainment gave the most famous mobile game, but they couldn’t replicate the success with other games. So, they were heavily dependent on the Angry bird brand to make a profit. Rovio tried to provide new updates regularly as well as tried releasing new Angry birds games. But the pressure from the audience led to a reduction in creativity. They launched some series like Angry Birds: Pop (which was like Bubble Shooter) and Angry Bird: Blast Balloons (which was like candy crush). So yeah, you can see, they only tried to replicate the popular games by adding the Angry bird’s characters.
They did try to revive the company’s reputation by launching Angry birds 3 on December 11, 2018, with the concept of an all-out war between the birds and the pigs on the occasion of their 10th anniversary. It was a direct sequel to the second part of Angry Birds and had new challenges such as airships, a boss arena, and a new bird known as TBA. Even such efforts didn’t help the ship from sinking. This didn’t stop “why did Angry birds decline?” from becoming one of the most searched questions about Angry birds.
In addition to that, in 2019, they removed all the old games from the app stores. Specifically, the games that were released before 2014 (which were the most loved by the players). Some of those games were Angry Birds, Angry Birds: Rio, Angry Birds: space, Angry Birds: Star Wars, and Bad Piggies. So, the players didn’t have any option as the ones they wanted to play were removed and the ones that were present weren’t really interesting as they didn’t have any uniqueness. This answers why did Angry Birds decline.
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Check out the Rovio Classics: Angry Birds Trailer
Will the Angry Birds make a comeback?
After the famous question “why did Angry Birds decline?”, the next big question was, “Will the original Angry Birds come back?”. The company later realized the loss of interest in playing the new games. The drop in revenue and profitability made them rethink their decisions. It influenced them to rerelease their most requested game i.e., Bad Piggies in 2019. Later in 2021, they explain the reasons for removing the old games on their official website in the post “A letter to our fans” where they also did a question-and-answer session.
After the rising question of why did Angry Birds decline, Rovio confirmed that they wanted to focus on their new games, and as the original games were built on old technology and outdated game engines and designs which made a high-quality update and live operation very difficult. They announced the remake of the classic games with new technology where they won’t have any problem with new updates.
At last, on 31st march,2022, the company released Rovio’s classic: Angry birds. It includes all the stages, easter eggs, and extras. This remake is similar to physics-based gameplay and includes all eight iconic episodes from 2012, with over 390 levels. However, unlike the original, you have to pay to play the game.
Conclusion
The main problem of why did Angry Birds decline was the pressure of recreating the success of its original. The burden made them copy other games when they should have focused on creating good games. so, why did Angry Birds shut down? Angry birds were shut down as the expectation of the players kept on increasing and the company couldn’t keep up with the demand.
In the newly launched games, they tried to bring back the old elements. So, let’s see whether they can bring back the same popularity of Angry Birds or not. What are your thoughts on why did angry birds decline? And which did you prefer, the original or the remake of Angry Birds?
FAQs
Why did Angry Birds get taken down?
They wanted to focus on their new games and the original games were built on old technology and outdated game engines and designs which made high-quality updates and live operations very difficult.
What happened to Angry Birds?
Rovio tried to provide new updates regularly as well as tried releasing new Angry birds games. But the pressure from the audience led to a reduction in creativity.
Did Angry Birds get taken down?
They removed all the old games from the app stores. Specifically, the games that were released before 2014 (which were the most loved by the players).
Will the original Angry Birds come back?
They announced the remake of the classic games with new technology where they won’t have any problem with new updates. At last, on 31st march,2022, the company released Rovio’s classic: Angry birds. It includes all the stages, Easter eggs, and extras. This remake is similar to physics-based gameplay.
