'Angry Birds' builds nest in China

Source:Xinhua Published: 2012-6-14 19:55:46

Rovio Entertainment Ltd, the Finnish company behind the mega-hit game Angry Birds, with more than 1 billion downloads to date, has big plans for the Chinese market.

 

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Rovio co-founder and chief marketing officer Peter Vesterbacka said the company hopes to incorporate traditional Chinese fairy tales into the themes of a number of activity parks to be built in China "in the not too distant future."

 

"We're looking at the amazing stories in Chinese history as themes for our parks," Vesterbacka said.

 

Haining city in East China's Zhejiang Province is "the first that has been announced" for the park, he said, with negotiations for others underway with a number of Chinese cities.

 

The world's first Angry Birds activity park opened in Finland in April. Vesterbacka's philosophy is to make the parks part of the neighborhood, just like a school, grocery store or library.

 

"Instead of building one massive amusement park, we're planning to build hundreds, maybe even thousands of activity parks here in China," Vesterbacka said.

 

The Angry Birds game, in which players throw birds from slingshots at evil pigs, has become a hit in China, turning the country into the second largest market for Rovio, following the United States. To capitalize on the game's success, the company opened its first overseas office in Shanghai late last year.

 

Over the past year, Rovio has expanded its business beyond games and now sells plush toys, books and clothing. It even sold mooncakes featuring Angry Birds during China's mid-Autumn festival last year.

 

Rovio announced last November that China would be the first country to have Angry Birds retail stores. The company is working on creating a nice shopping experience for its Chinese fans, and there will be some interesting developments in the next few months.

 

Earlier this month, the company launched a new online game in cooperation with Coca-Cola China and Chinese Olympic teams. It is set at the upcoming London Olympic Games.

 



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