Rovio’s Angry Birds is a worldwide phenomenon with 700 downloads on a variety of platforms. However, teaming up with NASA, National Geographic and Walmart for the launch of their new game shows the ambitions of the studio expand beyond a simple mobile game.
“It’s not just the launch of a game, it’s the launch of a franchise. It’s bigger than most movie launches in Hollywood,” said Rovio CMO Peter Vesterbacka “Rovio is one of the first brands to launch from the digital to the physical world.”
Rovio rejected a $2 billion buyout offer from Zynga last year because they have vast ambitions. They want to be bigger than Disney, which is a $74 billion company.
“Zynga is a game company. We stopped looking at ourselves as a game company. We sold 25 million plush toys last year. For us, it’s about making Angry Birds available everywhere,” said Vesterbacka, who added, “You go shopping in China, you see Angry Birds everywhere. We are the most copied brand in China, which means we are the most loved brand. We aren’t advocating piracy… but we have millions of Chinese people who love Angry Birds.”
Source: businessinsider.com
