The Angry Birds franchise continues to put up ridiculous numbers, with the latest iteration in the series, Angry Birds Space, surpassing 10 million downloads across all platforms in just its first three days available.
As PC World reports, Angry Birds maker Rovio Mobile issued the numbers, which include downloads on Apple’s iOS platform as well as Google’s Android operating system, plus downloads from the Mac App Store and on PC. What we don’t know just yet from those various downloads is how much money Angry Birds Space might have sucked in during those first three days, as prices vary. On Android, for example, there’s an ad-supported free version as well as ad-free versions for $0.99. The iTunes App Store also has an HD version optimized for the new iPad that runs at $2.99.
On Mac and PC, Angry Birds Space costs a little more, coming in at about $6 on both platforms. The game hasn’t even made it over to the Windows Phone segment of the smartphone population yet, but Rovio says it’s coming. And there are also in-app purchases to consider, which pull in even more cash. It’s not a stretch to assume that Angry Birds Space earned quite a bit for its creators this weekend, with more to come.
But then, it makes quite a bit of sense that Angry Birds Space would have done well. For one, Angry Birds remains an incredibly popular franchise, even though Rovio Mobile hasn’t really altered the way the game handles despite having released multiple versions of Angry Birds since 2009. Back in September, Angry Birds notched 350 million total downloads across all platforms and was selling about $1 million in merchandise per day.
Angry Birds Space is the first game in the series that could be considered a sequel to the original title, instead of just a different theme or gimmick. By sending the birds into space, Rovio Mobile has made the brilliant move of changing all the rules on players by manipulating gravity and putting together some pretty ingenious level designs. It’s not all perfection – some of the levels require more luck than skill – but the developers are definitely onto something here.
And like all the other Angry Birds titles, Rovio Mobile has free updates in the pipe that will bring more levels to the game; they’re just not done yet. PC World says those updates are cooking, and seeing as players are already clamoring for them, Rovio is likely to get them out pretty fast. And more gameplay is going to translate into more in-app purchases and more downloads in the long run.
