Bad Piggies 2, the sequel to the Rovio’s Angry Birds spin-off, is available in a handful of European countries on iOS ahead of a wider release, and an Android version.
The announcement was made via the Bad Piggies 2 Facebook page and indicates the title will first be released in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands and Poland, with many of these being around Rovio’s own home of Finland.
The Bad Piggies franchise concentrates on the titular antagonists of Rovio’s flagship Angry Birds franchise, with the physics-based destruction replaced by the construction of elaborate vehicles to propel the characters to the end of the level.
In a talk on the creation of the title, then head of studio Jaakko Haapasalo spoke about the initial concept. "At Rovio, we think about games as entertainment and about characters, so in 2011, we thought, 'What if the piggies had their own game?’ Pigs like to build things and they like eggs. The initial concept was very simple.”
Even badder piggies
While Angry Birds has propelled forwards as a franchise, most famously with its own film series, Bad Piggies has had only one entry before this sequel. Released back in 2012 it received a relatively positive response from reviewers, including our sister site PocketGamer.com, but has not warranted as much attention as the mainline franchise.
Given the difference to its parent franchise this should come as no surprise. The title also marked a major shift in not just character but also development practices, with the game becoming known for its use of the Unity engine rather than the in-house tools Rovio has become famous for.
With all this being said, the release of Bad Piggies 2, even in a limited number of countries, indicates Rovio is still intent on pushing the boat out little by little, perhaps buoyed and confident after the announcement of their acquisition by Sega, Rovio is now forging ahead with projects previously on the backburner. Either way even ten years down the line it seems that pigs still can't fly, but they can drive.
