Angry Birds: Rio already boasts 10 million downloads

by Steven Mostyn - Apr 4 2011, 06:56

Given the simple but repetitive gameplay mechanics of Angry Birds, you’d perhaps think a sequel to Rovio’s addictive physics-based puzzler would fail to match the phenomenal success enjoyed by its predecessor.

You’d be right… but you’d also be wrong.

Moreover, Angry Birds: Rio, which launched on March 22, hasn’t just matched the success of last year’s Angry Birds… it’s actually blown it clean off the telephone wire.

Casual game publisher Rovio has announced that colourful movie tie-in Angry Birds: Rio has been downloaded 10 million times during its first 10 days of widespread availability.

“Angry Birds Rio breaking all records,” trumpeted Rovio via its Twitter page. “A massive thanks to all our fans!!!”

Angry Birds: Rio is available as a (limited time) free download via Amazon’s newly launched Android App Store, and also the Android Marketplace.

For everyone else, the explosive joy of hurling weaponised birds comes attached to a price tag of $0.99 USD on mobile phones and $2.99 USD on iPad.

Gamasutra reports that both fee-based downloads were the top-selling games in their respective App Store listings during Rio’s opening week.

Although the original Angry Birds required around 10 months to reach 10 million paid downloads, its overall popularity with casual audiences shows no signs of flagging.

Specifically, it notched its 100 millionth download during March and still boasts an active user base of around 40 million.

Around the Web