Angry Birds Developer Rovio Set To Release Flappy Bird-Inspired Game [Video]

Rovio Entertainment, Finnish entertainment company and developer of Angry Birds, is not over the Flappy Bird craze. The developers of the top-grossing game seem to have found inspiration from the infamous Flappy Bird, which was taken down from the App Store months ago.

In the new game entitled Retry, players must take control of an 8-bit plane and maneuver it through the obstacles while collecting coins. Just like Flappy Bird, players can expect failure and frustration, as seen from the game’s trailer. “It’s called Retry for a reason!” as stated on the game’s description on the App Store.

The Angry Birds makers are out to prove that their flagship game is not all that they can do. However, newer games that they released, such as Angry Birds Go!, Angry Birds Star Wars, and Angry Birds Epic made it clear that success comes and goes.

Mikael Hed, Rovio Entertainment’s Chief Executive, is working on revising the company’s revenue model. They have decided to make game downloads free, and instead charge players for in-game purchases. Retry will be available as a free download, but players are free to purchase more airports for the game.

The company is also venturing into the movie industry, funding and producing the Angry Birds movie, which will be distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment. The movie is scheduled for release in 2016.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Hed shared about the company’s latest game. He said that Retry was indeed inspired by Flappy Bird.

“Games like Flappy Bird show that it’s not always a requirement for a game to be extremely expensive to make for it to succeed,” Hed said.

Flappy Bird was a mobile game developed by Dong Nguyen, a Vietnam-based developer. The game was released in May 24, 2013, but only received widespread attention this year. Reviews of the game described it as incredibly hard, but addictive. Nguyen took down the game from the App Store on February 10, as he felt guilty about its addictive nature.

Hed also expounded on the company’s mission. When asked about what the company wants to be, Hed answered, “Rovio wants to be an entertainment company. Period. That’s what we are. We started with games, mobile games specifically.” However, he also added that they are also strong in other areas, such as consumer products and animation.

Retry is already available in Poland, Finland, and Canada as a soft launch. There is no news of its release in the American App Store.