Angry Birds Rio 10 Million Downloads 10 days

Angry Birds is a gaming juggernaut that will simply not be stopped, by anyone, or anything. Rovio's latest release, the movie tie-in Angry Birds Rio, has notched up a massive 10 million downloads in just 10 days since it was released on March 22, shattering the record set by the original game in 2010.

Developer Rovio revealed via Twitter that Angry Birds Rio had broken the mark set by the original Angry Birds, which took 10 months to accomplish the same monumental task last year.

Angry Birds Rio is top of nearly all App Store charts, including the just-launched Amazon App Store for Android, where the game is still free for a limited time. The barn-storming success of Angry Birds is showing no signs of letting up, and now has another milestone to accompany the recent accolade of hitting 30 million downloads on Google's Android operating system.

It's hard to believe that in reality, Angry Birds Rio is little more than promotional material for the animated movie Rio, which has seen the inclusion of advertisements in the game's pause screen. The blatant promoting has no doubt angered some iOS gamers, but clearly not enough to stop Angry Birds Rio from having a 5-star rating in Apple's App Store.

It's safe to say that Angry Birds is no longer just a game, but a brand in itself. The success of the series has seen not only further iterations of the original, like Angry Birds Seasons, but also merchandise in the form of  plush toys, board games, and even a spoof movie trailer.

Angry Birds Rio Gameplay

Fans aren't the only ones who've taken notice, given the recent investment of a hefty $42 million into Rovio's future projects. With figures like that floating around, it's no wonder Rovio head of Business Development Peter Vesterbacka thinks console games are dying.

One of the main reasons for the success of Angry Birds is the sheer value for money, with regular updates of 15 levels or more at no extra cost keeping gamers gripped to the franchise. While it's difficult to see where Rovio is going to take Angry Birds – especially after the developers use up every public holiday for a special edition – there doesn't look to be any drop in popularity for the game, which recently passed its 100 millionth download across all devices.

It's hard to criticize the success of Angry Birds without sounding like a jaded old grump, but some could liken the game to hearing a fantastic song on the radio – it can only be played so many times before it becomes boring. That said, the team at Rovio are a talented bunch, and it's hard to not look forward to seeing what they can do with a brand new game, and a chance to prove they aren't just a one-hit wonder.

What do you think of Angry Birds Rio? Still as exciting as the original, or are you bored of the franchise now? What direction would you like Angry Birds, or Rovio as a whole, to go in? Let us know in the comments!

Angry Birds Rio is available now for iOS and Android devices world wide.

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Source: Gamasutra