Angry Birds Classic is Going Away Because It’s Bad for Business

A little less than a year ago, Rovio brought back the original Angry Birds as a $0.99 game called Rovio Classics: Angry Birds. We were pretty damn excited about it because it wasn’t a garbage of micro transactions or ads or whatever else Rovio has baked into its newer games. It was a throwback to the old times, where we paid a dollar for a game and then just enjoyed it.

As it turns out, the “old times” are bad for business. Rovio released a statement this week stating that they will kill off Rovio Classics: Angry Birds “due to the game’s impact on [their] wider games portfolio.” The brand and community lead for the Angry Birds community on Discord said more specifically that it is “negatively impacting” their other games.

On Thursday, February 23, the game will be unlisted on Google Play and then renamed on Apple’s App Store to “Red’s First Flight,” making it more difficult to find. No one can figure out why they aren’t doing the same on Google Play.

I’m not sure there is any other way to look at this than with sadness and gloom. Rovio is essentially saying that a pay-once model doesn’t make enough money when compared to games filled with ongoing micro transactions and other ways to scheme you (and your child) into constantly paying for stuff. In fact, having a game that only charges you once is actually doing harm to those other free-to-play options. That sucks for you and I and the future of mobile gaming.

Here’s the deal with that before you freak out and go scream at Rovio employees. If you already own the game or buy it now and install it, you can keep it. And if you get a new phone, because you’ve installed it, you should still be able to find it again.

Google Play Link ($0.99)