No doubt Nokia and Microsoft weren't pleased BlackBerry got Angry Birds Space before they did.

That's the reason they're keen to point out they now have a strategic deal in place for it and future Rovio games.

Apparently, Rovio is building a dedicated development team to create games for Lumia devices, and the wider Windows Phone ecosystem.

It says the goal is to enable it to publishing all future titles as soon as possible on the platform.

Previously, there was some internal confusion at the company about when and whether it was going to develop for the non-native (C#-based) Windows Phone 7 platform.

Special friends

"Nokia is one of our longest-standing partners, and Windows Phone and Lumia are of strategic importance to Rovio," said Mikael Hed, Rovio's CEO.

"We are very committed to bring our games to Lumia devices, and are looking forward to delighting our fans on the Windows Phone platform."

Rovio and Nokia say they will also partner up to develop what they call "innovative new consumer products and content exclusively for Nokia Lumia smartphones", as well as integrated marketing initiatives.