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Angry Birds tops 100 million as downloads hit 1.2 million a day

Vesterbacka says days of charging $40 a game are over

Angry Birds tops 100 million as downloads hit 1.2 million a day
It was back in October 2010 that Google revealed Rovio's download target for Angry Birds was a massive 100 million. Back then, the game's download total was less than 20 million. 

It was 50 million at the end of January. Now however that 100 million target has been reached as tweeted by Rovio.

Secret science

Yet speaking at the South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin, head of business development Peter Vesterbacka said Angry Birds has been something of a surprise hit for Rovio.

Downloads across mobile, tablet and PC/Mac might currently average at 1.2 million a day, but the science behind the mobile industry's successes so far is hard to fathom.

"No one has figured it out yet," he said, adding that Rovio plans to continue to experiment with titles in the future, rather than adopt one set model for all its future games.

Good thing it's just raised $42 million in VC funding

Nevertheless, while mobile gaming might appear something of a lottery, Vesterbacka was even less complimentary when it came to the future of console gaming, proclaiming the practice of charging $40-$50 for a game one that's clearly "dying".

Mobile and social gaming studios, in contrast, are the ones with a more nimble business practice, he claimed, able to generate revenue by releasing new content cheaply and in quick time.

[source: VentureBeat]

With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.