'Angry Birds' Creator Rovio Signs Deal With Lego To Develop Construction Toy Sets

By Avaneesh Pandey @avaneeshp88 a.pandey@ibtimes.com

Rovio, the Finnish company that created the immensely popular video game “Angry Birds,” announced on Monday that it would partner with the LEGO Group to develop a line of construction toys. In this photo, Angry Birds products are displayed during a news conference in Hong Kong July 3, 2012. Reuters/Bobby Yip

Rovio, the Finnish company that created the immensely popular video game “Angry Birds,” announced on Monday that it would partner with the Lego Group to develop a line of construction toys. The announcement comes just months after Rovio reported a staggering 73 percent drop in profits.
While the exact dates for the release of the Lego set is yet
to be announced, it is expected to become available in spring 2016 -- dovetailing with a movie adaptation of one of the most downloaded mobile games in history.
“We’re really excited to build experiences together with this amazing best-in-class partner,” Rovio’s CEO Pekka Rantala said in a statement.
Jill Wilfert, vice president, licensing and entertainment at the Lego Group, added: “We are excited to bring Angry Birds to life in LEGO form, given the popularity of the game and its characters with fans of all ages, which will only be amplified by the forthcoming film.”
The Angry Birds game, in which players use a slingshot to attack “pigs” attempting to steal the birds’ eggs, has been losing appeal in recent years. In 2014, Rovio was forced to cut about 110 jobs -- representing 14 percent of its workforce -- after it failed to repeat the success of the original game launched in 2009.
The video game developer hopes that the toys, along with the movie -- to be distributed by Sony Pictures and scheduled to be released in the U.S. in July 2016 -- would turn around its fortunes.