The Force (of inertia) is strong with this one.
Finnish-based developer Rovio is teasing a Star Wars version of its phenomenally popular physics game Angry Birds on its new Tumblr page. The first post features an animated image of one of the birds in a traditional Jedi robe activating a lightsaber. Rovio confirmed this is an official announcement via its Twitter account.
Angry Birds is still one of the most successful game franchises to come out of the smartphone revolution. Players destroy structures by firing birds with a slingshot. It’s an easy-to-pick-up and difficult-to-master mechanic. Angry Birds also set the standard for advertising in mobile games. Most of the Android versions are completely free for players to download, yet the in-game ads produce nearly $1 million a month in revenue.
Rovio branded this blog with the Angry Birds property. It has a few other games, so the fact that the URL is angrybirds.tumblr.com signifies that this relationship with the Star Wars series will result in a mashup between the bird-flinging games and the science-fiction series. The assumption is that the developer is creating a game where Jedi birds knock down scores of piggies in Stormtrooper armor — I’m down with that. Maybe instead of a slingshot, we’ll get to use telekinetic Force push and pull powers.
Other than the Jedi-bird animation, Rovio only included this information regarding the announcement:
Times Square, New York, October 8, 10 a.m. EST.
HINT: Head to Toys ‘R’ Us at 8 a.m. EST!
GamesBeat will have all updates regarding Angry Birds’ flirtation with George Lucas’s space opera right here.
