Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: ID:chuappgame, author: Zhu Siqi

The original title: "the original Angry Birds" was removed from the shelves again: unexpectedly, it was for everyone to play with the new work? "

Will the removal of popular old works cause players to spend money on new ones instead?

The original Angry Birds has once again disappeared from the Google App Store.

The popular mobile game Angry Birds was launched in 2009 and officially launched on the National Android App Store in 2012, which has been more than 10 years since. For a long time, the national area has become the largest market in this series because of its huge downloads. This casual game is easy to play, but combined with lively character design and exquisite level design, it is a lot of fun to play. Players need to shoot several different kinds of Angry Birds in a slingshot and let them attack the pigsty. Master the skills and shooting angle, and then make use of some special skills of birds, players tirelessly compete who can kill more pigs at one time.

The first generation of pig-beating has long been a classic in the minds of players. I still remember the days when I was in high school, competing with relatives' children to play Angry Birds on holidays. At that time, the happiness was quite simple, as long as a tablet computer that was new at the time could let a group of noisy children revel in the sofa for a few hours. Even adults who never play games are inevitably attracted by the brightly colored, different-looking, round birds when they pass by. At that time, when they went shopping, dolls of these iconic birds were sold in the shop windows, and developer Rovio's journey from the brink of bankruptcy to his comeback was also written in various inspirational stories.

Like other famous IP that have grown in size over time, many versions of the Angry Birds series have been dazzling. In addition to orthodox sequels such as Angry Birds 2 and Angry Birds: dream explosion, there are a number of special versions of the series, such as Star Wars and Transfiguration Diamond. After that, the game also added a number of derivative games, such as the elimination of game and RPG upgrade elements. Although there are different reviews of the specific works in the series, and linkage games are aimed at different fan groups, no matter which version, as long as there are angry birds and giggling pigs, it can be a lot of fun. This may be the power of a good idea itself.

With the changes of the times, the market environment of casual games has changed greatly, and the Angry Birds series itself is constantly changing. The biggest change is from a buyout system to a domestic purchase system. In the follow-up works, gold coins and diamonds used for in-game consumption, unlocking new birds, and expanding the capacity of "bird bombs" have all been changed into paid items. This has indeed brought huge economic benefits to Rovio, but many veteran players also miss the original, purest buyout of Angry Birds.

The impressive character design is the key to Angry Birds' ability to form a big IP, although players love the original classic, Rovio itself has a more subtle attitude towards it.

On the one hand, this is indeed an old IP, and manufacturers need to upgrade the earliest games. The first generation of Angry Birds, which has been with players for 10 years, was removed from app stores in 2019. One after another, the old games in several other series have also been removed from the shelves because of copyright, cooperative merchants and other reasons. Rovio did not give a detailed reason why the original game was removed from the shelves at the time. It wasn't until 2021 that Rovio said in a letter to players that it was mainly because several games, including the original Angry Birds, were technologically behind the times. It is becoming more and more difficult to maintain and operate these games with old engines, and they hope that the works will be presented to the players in a more perfect appearance all the time.

This reason sounds reasonable. As if to prove sincerity, in that letter, they also announced that they would launch a full remake of the first version, the Rovio Classic: angry Birds, in 2022, priced at 99 cents. But players are still dissatisfied with the fact that the original has been removed from the app store for three or four years just to remake it. Rovio also admitted that the decision at the time disappointed the players and was very "not cool".

With this informal reflection and apology, players thought Rovio would never make the same mistake again. Unexpectedly, last week, Rovio issued another announcement that it would remove "Rovio Classic: angry Birds" from the Google App Store on February 23, while Apple's App Store game was considering changing its name. Except for those who have downloaded the game to local players, other users will no longer be able to play the game.

Rovio once again announced that it was off the shelves for reasons that many players found unacceptable. In a statement, Rovio said that the original Angry Birds has had a "certain impact" on other games in the series, and hopes that players will spend more time and energy on works such as Angry Birds 2 and Angry Birds: the explosion of Dreams, which the company will now focus on.

Players interpret this as "Rovio Classic: angry Birds" is too popular, but its low buyout price will no longer benefit Rovio, so Rovio wants to direct players to several other free and in-house games by taking the game off the shelves. On social media, the most popular player comments on the announcement are satirizing Rovio, arguing that manufacturers essentially want players to pay more attention to works that "manipulate the player's mentality" and "full of micro-transactions".

Other players say they understand the need for developers to make a profit, but would rather pay a higher price, such as $20, to buy out the classic version of the game, rather than be frequently disturbed by top-up elements and advertisements in new works. However, have players ever thought that even if a buyout game is sold for $40, it will not be taken off the shelves again?

"Angry Birds" is also one of the first mobile games to be adapted into film and television IP, Rovio has not yet responded to the controversy surrounding the removal of the shelves. In a sense, Angry Birds, the classic game IP for more than a decade, has indeed witnessed the transition of mobile games: from buyout-based to domestic purchase, starting from a popular core game, gradually adding a variety of complex leisure games, and even creating a precedent for mobile games IP film and television. I don't want to criticize developers' choices too much. Some data show that despite the success of the original Angry Birds, Rovio faced another bankruptcy crisis around 2014 because no other popular games were developed. After that, the company put more efforts on the operation of IP, resulting in a large number of sequels, joint activities and film and television adaptations. In 2022, revenue from mobile games declined again worldwide. As a developer, it is understandable to try to open up your own survival path.

But for the original players, it does make familiar birds become strange gradually. In fact, as a player from the original Angry Birds, when I opened App Store and saw the bird games now on sale, I almost didn't recognize them. This in itself does not bother me, what puzzles players after all is the manufacturer's "draining from the bottom" behavior-will players be allowed to spend money on new works if they take off their most popular first-generation works? Maybe the manufacturers overestimated the appeal of IP and underestimated the value of the original genius ideas, and it was a bit rude to take it off the shelves. The real solution is to find ways to make the new games more fun and popular.

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.