Angry Birds studio teases ‘Epic’ new game with short trailer

If mobile gaming has an unofficial mascot, it’s probably the grumpy fowls from the Angry Birds series. And like Mario and Sonic before them, they’re not afraid of branching out.

Angry Birds studio Rovio has something new in the works. The developer posted a teaser trailer to its YouTube page titled “The next epic Angry Birds game.” The clip shows a realistic suit of armor from many angles before revealing the familiar red, avian face of its star character sitting behind the helmet’s mask. Rovio didn’t provide any more details. It didn’t show any gameplay, but the developer did reveal that it will release it soon in Australia and Canada. It will come to other countries afterward. Angry Birds no longer tops the charts as titles like Candy Crush Saga and Clash of Clans have overtaken it, but it is still a formidable franchise. The franchise has helped Rovio reach 2 billion total downloads across all its games and launch a lucrative line of merchandise. Which is why even if gamers aren’t as into Angry Birds as in the past, Rovio is gonna keep trying to make it work.

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Check out the video below for a look at the upcoming release:

While the developer didn’t provide any specifics, we did spot a potential hint.

In the details of the video on YouTube, Rovio explains that the game is “perhaps the most Epic soft launch ever.” Interestingly, the company capitalized Epic, which may refer to developer Epic Games, the maker of iOS hit Infinity Blade. The armor the bird is wearing strongly resembles the equipment the main character wears in Infinity Blade. We’ve reached out to Rovio and Epic to ask if this is just a coincidence, and we’ll update this story with any new information.

Back in December, Rovio might have actually teased this game in another video, as spotted by tech site Phandroid. In one of the shots from the video, a Rovio employee flies by on a Razor scooter past some silhouette art that shows the Angry Birds characters donning medieval garb and weapons. One is holding a sword, another is a wizard, and a third is an archer. Check it out:

Whatever it is, it’s clear that Rovio is sticking with its Angry Birds franchise. Prior to this title, Rovio most recently released a free-to-play kart-racing game for mobile called Angry Birds Go. In February, it also announced a spinoff franchise called Angry Birds Stella that focuses on a band of female birds.