With Angry Birds 2 unlikely to be released anytime soon, if ever, Rovio Mobile has made a cunning move with the surprise release of Angry Birds Halloween.
It's not the Halloween theme that's the really cunning move however; plenty of other games from Doodle Jump to Pocket Devil have pulled that particular trick.
Going solo
No. The development of Angry Birds Halloween - a new, standalone app for iPhone and an HD one for iPad - has enabled Rovio to self publish the game under its own steam.
Its breakout hit - now though to have been downloaded over 20 million times in terms of paid and free versions - was published by UK outfit Chillingo, which gets a cut of all sales.
However, with Angry Birds now the world's largest mobile gaming brand, Rovio is keen to spread its own wings, and keep all the cash.
It also self published the Android version of the game. It's believed that Chillingo retains the rights to the PSP Minis version.
Check the small print
In this respect, the release is also interesting as rumours are swirling around about the possible acquisition of Chillingo by EA Mobile, or perhaps another company.
Of course, that would make sense, in terms of Chillingo's proven ability to deliver a regular volume of hit iOS games.
But the price will be the most significant element of any such deal, especially in terms of the value and extent of publishing rights Chillingo has over sequels and additional platforms for the iPhone games it's released.
News
Contributing Editor
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.
Top Stories
News
11 hours, 19 minutes ago
PocketGamer.biz Podcast Week in Mobile Games E12 - Xbox's mobile games store and Unity vs. AppLovin
Feature
May 17th, 2024
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from a battle royale to a console classic remake
Feature
May 16th, 2024
Behind the scenes: How adding sandwich offers to an idle merge game boosted three metrics at once
Events
Digital Dragons | Europe | May 19th |
GamesBeat Summit 2024 | North America | May 20th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Nordic Game Spring 2024 | Nordic | May 21st |
Impact 2024 - Indie Games | May 23rd | |
Morocco Gaming Expo | Africa | May 24th |
MomoCon 2024 | North America | May 24th |
Unreal Fest Gold Coast 2024 | Australasia | May 29th |
Popular Stories
Feature
May 14th, 2024
53 top mobile games in soft launch: Squad Busters, Battle Guys: Royale, Plants vs. Zombies 3, LEGO Hill Climb Adventures, and more
Feature
May 13th, 2024
Hot Five: Dubai's new Gaming Visa, April's mobile game charts, and Xbox studio closures
Feature
May 14th, 2024