Nickelodeon has won the rights to broadcast the first Angry Birds animated short film.
The cartoon will promote the latest Angry Birds ‘Space’ game, and will explain how the feathered fighters got into space in the first place. It will also reveal six new birds.
Angry Birds Space will first be shown on Nikelodeon in the UK on Friday 23 March at 6pm. The channel is available on Sky channel 604, Virgin 712 and TalkTalk 315.
The game marks the first integrated entertainment launch for Finnish firm Rovio, including accompanying Angry Birds Space merchandise, animation and books.
Since Angry Birds debuted on Apple’s iOS devices in December 2009, it has become the most popular mobile game ever, racking up 700m downloads in its first two years alone.
The game is available to play for free supported by adverts, but around 25% of downloads are understood to be for the paid, advert-free versions on smartphones and tablets. Angry Birds remains one of the most popular paid apps in the iTunes App Store.
The success of Angry Birds has transformed Rovio Entertainment into a powerhouse in mobile gaming, helping the firm raise $42m in venture capital funding last March from Accel Partners, Atomico and Felicis Ventures.
www.nick.co.uk
