“Angry Birds are not angry any more,” said Henri Holm, one of the creators of the phenomenally popular game Angry Birds and the senior vice-president at Rovio Entertainment.
In the city to address a youth marketing forum titled “The Power of One”, the techie said it was a humbling experience to be well received by the Indian audience.
“Angry Birds has come a long way since its inception. The game is in our DNA and is literally a vehicle of communication. It’s not just a game anymore,” Mr Holm said when asked about the explosive reach and growth of the game.
“For us at Angry Birds, the game is a service that spreads itself in various verticals ranging from animation to books and merchandising. It has connected people online and increased the social connectivity traffic in terms of sheer numbers and mobility,” he said.
Angry Birds, which has now become a big franchise, has created an entirely different and new platform for digital content. “It unifies quality and delight. Our primary aim is to delight the gamer. But the delight that brings smiles to millions of faces came through a lot of planning and hard work,” Mr Holm said.
The simplicity of the game is what spelt instant success for the game, but Mr Holm said that creating that was a challenge. “The game involves various stages of production, planning and execution. Developing the characters, their stories and incorporating new ideas is the driving force. If you closely look at the characters, they are very real. It’s just that one needs to be consistent, and that’s difficult,” he said.
The techie believes that India is an extremely important market and the fact that the traffic here is enormous helps the Angry Birds’ business model. “The ubiquitous presence of the game in India has boosted tremendous growth. Even a slight recommendation by a user is powerful in a scenario like India,” he said.
At the end of the day, it is all about living up to expectations. “You have to keep exploring new arenas because at the end of the day, the game is never over,” he said.