Mobile gaming company Rovio’s popular game Angry Birds has been downloaded over 500 million times since its launch about two years ago, reports Reuters.
“It’s more than any game ever before,” said Peter Vesterbacka, Rovio’s marketing chief. Vesterbacka was speaking during a conference held in Helsinki.
Rovio was established as ‘Relude’ in 2003 by three students. One of these students, Niklas Hed had won a game development competition sponsored by Nokia and HP at that time. Niklas Hed, cousin of CEO Mikael Hed, is now the COO of Rovio. Company’s name Relude was changed to Rovio in 2005.
Angry Birds was launched by Rovio on Dec 11, 2009 for Apple’s iPhone. Since then, it is on the top of the charts.
In this game, pigs steal the birds’ eggs and players attack those pigs using slingshots.
According to Vesterbacka, Rovio is aiming to extend its global user base on devices including mobile phones and computers. The company is aiming one billion users for its games. It is also promoting the brand across traditional merchandising, baby products, toys, etc.
Rovio in association with Accel Partners was able to raise $42 million from venture capital firms earlier this year. Accel Partners has backed Facebook, Baidu, and Skype founder’s venture capital firm Atomico Ventures in the past.