On March 22nd, Rovio unleashed the long-awaited next chapter in the Angry Birds saga, Angry Birds Space. The game features similar mechanics to other Angry Birds games that you might have played, but tacks on some new challenges like gravitational fields and new characters like the Ice Bird.
And as expected, it appears that the game is a hit.
Both the Angry Birds and RovioHQ Twitter accounts tweeted this today, announcing that the new game had crossed the 20 million download mark:
Over 20 Million downloads in our first week… That’s a lot of pig popping! #angrybirdsspace
— Angry Birds (@AngryBirds) March 30, 2012
Rovio did quite a bit of viral marketing prior to the game’s release. Between nifty little videos featuring all the game’s bird characters and a partnership with NASA, there was a ton of buzz online right before launch. Plus, it was just the first true sequel to one of the most popular games of the mobile era – so it had that going for it.
Another interesting partnership that the Angry Birds franchise launched with was one with mega-retailer Walmart. It served as Walmart’s first real gaming integration and offered players bonus content with the purchase of select Angry Birds merchandise.
It also appears that players won’t have to wait very long for the game’s first update. They say that it’s “coming soon” and will bring the Space Needle into the gameplay. The fact that Seattle’s Space Needle was turned into a huge slingshot after the launch of the game probably has something to do with this.