Image: Rovio Games
Rovio Games announced yesterday that it will be removing the paid version of the app from the Google Play Store on Thursday 23 February “due to the game’s impact on our broader game portfolio”. The studio’s other games are all free-to-play microtransaction titles, while the original Rovio Classics: Angry Birds only offers a prepaid price. Now fans are upset that the developer is choosing microtransactions as its primary business strategy.
“Also, the game will be renamed Red’s First Flight on the App Store pending further review. Rovio: Classics Angry Birds will remain playable on devices where the game was downloaded even after it was delisted,” Rovio Games tweeted.
The classic Angry Birds game is the only one you can get for a one-time purchase with no microtransactions, leading many people to think that the studio prioritizes the wins over the players that popularized the franchise. And gamers are already nervous about the possibility that studios might stop making premium experiences once they see how much money microtransactions can bring in. The statement from Rovio Games seems to confirm exactly this idea.
“The main focus of the company has to be forward, to the future and to our live games,” Community Manager Shawn Buckelev said on the studio’s official Discord server. “It’s what the business needs. That doesn’t mean we don’t want to bring back some of those classic, nostalgic experiences, but we do need to be more creative and find solutions where we can do that without harming the live games and main source of our business. ”
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While Classics hasn’t been completely phased out, Buckelev added that he doesn’t want to “overpromise” while the company has no concrete plans to bring back the old games. So there’s still a chance Android fans will still be able to play the first Angry Birds sometime in the future. For now, the only way to ensure access is to purchase and download the game before the store page goes dark.
The community manager tried to ease fans’ irritation by claiming that those who already own the classic game are unaffected. Of course, this ignores the possibility that you may need to download the game again in the future. And it still sucks that new players can’t access the original title. Rovio Classics: Angry Birds is a culturally significant game that has become a cornerstone of mobile gaming history. This is a huge blow to game keeping and those interested in gaming history. Kotaku reached out to Rovio Games to ask if the App Store version of Red’s First Flight would be considered for delisting, but received no response at the time of publication.
Rovio Classics: Angry Birds will be dark tomorrow. So if you intend to buy the game beforehand, make sure you actually download the app.
