The original Angry Birds is one of the most popular mobile games ever created, and helped spawn an extremely successful franchise, which has seen a total of 1 billion downloads since its inception. Even though Rovio has followed up that original game with a dizzying amount of ports and countless spinoffs, they have yet to deliver a true sequel to the game that practically defines them as a studio.

However, Rovio is finally going ahead with Angry Birds 2. Announced with the tagline "bigger, badder, birdier," Angry Birds 2 is almost a complete mystery at this point. All the standard birds from the previous games are set to return of course, but besides that, nothing else is known about the game.

Thankfully, we won't have to wait long for more details on Angry Birds 2. Along with the initial announcement confirming the game's existence, Rovio also teased when fans can expect to learn more about the game, and it will apparently be later this month.

On July 28th, at some unknown event apparently taking place in San Francisco, Rovio is planning to fully unveil Angry Birds 2. This will likely include gameplay footage, along with potential platforms besides mobile, and perhaps even a release date.

The only thing surprising about the Angry Birds 2 announcement is that its taken Rovio this long to go ahead with a full-fledged sequel to their flagship title. After all, the original Angry Birds is one of the most successful games ever made, dominating in downloads on both mobile devices and consoles, as it became the best-selling PSN game ever after being available for a mere three months.

The success of the original Angry Birds turned the franchise into a multimedia merchandising machine, with Rovio slapping the likeness of the titular "angry birds" wherever possible. It also spawned a variety of spinoffs as well. These spinoffs have also proven to be extremely popular, with Angry Birds Rio reaching 10 million downloads in as many days, and Angry Birds Space enjoying the distinction of being the fastest-growing mobile game in history.

Rovio has also partnered with various other companies to create Angry Birds versions of some of pop culture's most popular icons, such as Angry Birds Transformers, and of course, Angry Birds Star Wars and its sequel. The long reach of the Angry Birds merchandising arm doesn't even stop there, as it was announced about a month ago that a LEGO Angry Birds set is in the works.

While initially an extremely popular game, the fervor surrounding Angry Birds has waned as of late. In fact, sinking profits caused the departure of Rovio's CEO last year. Hopefully Angry Birds 2 gives the franchise the shot in the arm it needs to take the mobile gaming world by storm yet again.

Angry Birds 2 doesn't currently have a release date or even announced platforms, but it will probably launch on Android and iOS first, with ports to every other system imaginable likely to follow in later months.

Source: IGN