Angry Birds tops 100m downloads as exec says 'tablets are killing consoles'

Peter Vesterbacka thinks the speed of iteration for slates is outgunning console, but Nokia doesn't agree.

Angry Birds has now been downloaded more than 100 million times, according to Rovio Mobile marketing exec Peter Vesterbacka, speaking on a panel at the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas.

"Everyone is playing Angry Birds," said Vesterbacka, as he outlined previously known stats like the game's 40 million monthly active users, who spend 200 million minutes a day playing the game across various devices.

[gravemaker]

When they will shut the hell up?
Peter Vesterbacka is a retard

[Istanbull]

He is a fool, nothing can kill console gaming, it gets bigger and bigger.

Do you really think a 1 buck game is gonna replace our CoDs, Gran Turismos, Marios, Halos?

Thank god I jailbroke my iPhone and played his game for free. Its fun for 5 minutes only.

[NewMonday]

Time killer only, gives me an option other than poking my nose or biting my nails.

[DarkTower805]

Exactly, its just something to play while taking a shit. Real gaming is done on a couch with a contoller, surround sound and big screen tv.

[sikbeta]

I really don't give a damn if some day console gaming becomes niche, I'll be there to support it, but now console gaming is not being killed by lame-@ss wannabe-console tablets and I don't see that happen someday either, these kind of comment feeds people like analysts and the such who classify games as kiddie stuff and then come up with something as retard as the sentence in the title, by their logic, all games, no matter budget, size, graphics or whatever are in the same "league" and these people only make numbers comparisons, so when a tiny game @ $2 sell more than a $60 game on a console, they open their mouths to claim something as stupid as what this dumb guy said.

"Vesterbacka was sharing a panel with Nokia's interim EVP of services Tero Ojanpera, who disagreed with his fellow Finn on the console question. According to VentureBeat, Ojanpera pointed out that people are unlikely to plug tablets into their TVs."

[Oner]

The main thing he doesn't get is that Angry Birds has been given away for free, gotten for free via JB's or available for a low $1-$2 price. Additionally their "totals" don't account that a single person may have multiple versions on different platforms i.e. on their phone, home/portable console (PS3/360/PSP) or PC. So it's not like all the players or games being played are a singular individual total amount. The last point would be that it's a "pick up and play to kill time" type of game that can be completed quickly. There is no longevity or real skill needed to play as it is the perfect example of a casual game.

[HolyOrangeCows]

90% of those downloads were the free version anyway.

[Prcko]

umm,console game 59,99$
angry birds 1,99$
umm tablets killing consoles,lol yeah maybe in copies sold,but not in profit!

[Fishy Fingers]

In the case of Angry Birds, I expect their profit to be greater than the vast majority of video games. The production/development overheads are tiny, compared to console games.

[Pug]

I think its fair to say though that games like Angry Birds are somewhat of a one off wouldn't you say? I can't see tablets/mobiles consistently pumping out those kinds of volumes. Also with so many platforms isn't the money gettings carved up even more?

Consoles/PC still provide the more sounds business model for video games and always will do.

I think a lot of his points are ill conceived to say the least, this is a case of what he'd like it to be rather than the reality.

[STK026]

I eblieve that while you won't see a huge game like CoD, BF or GTA (a 3D one) on a tablet selling as much as Angry Birds, I do believe that some not so casual games could easily work on a tablet and sell very well. Games like Advance Wars, Fire Emblem or turn based JRPGs could easily work on tablets and not be watered down versions of console games (obviously you won't see AW or FE, as they are owned by Nintendo, but similar games).

I don't think tablets will ever kill consoles, but I do believe that they can compete with them in certain game types. And I think we will see more and more of these success stories on tablets and smartphones, largely due to ever evolving technology and the huge number of units on the market.

[Downtown boogey]

Pug, you're absolutely right.

Every cheap game like Angry Birds need some kind of a simple gimmick to be successful.

[TheBlackSmoke]

He probably doesn't know that call of duty is the biggest franchise in the history of entertainment.

If Angry birds was 59.99, only him and his momma would be playing it.

EDIT: Im not talking about quality, just numbers.
COD made a billion dollars the last 2 years and it will do the same this year if not more...and yes that is more than WOW.

[kevnb]

Wow > call of duty

[Louis_Guzman]

Pokemon and Mario are bigger franchises than CoD or WoW.

[BloodyNapkin]

Nintendo dominates this market. They outsell the best multiplatform games with exclusives.

Mario Kart Wii (26.50 million)
Wii Sports Resort (26.35 million)
Wii Fit (22.61 million)
New Super Mario Bros. Wii (21.28 million)

[maxx1223]

Wow takes in > 1.5 billion annually, so you might want to rethink your COD comment.

[lil Titan]

this is about as stupid as Antoine Dodson's fame smh

[DragonKnight]

THANK YOU!!!

If I have to see one more person do a "hide yo' kids, hide yo' wife" line I'm going to snap.

[noturaveragetype]

hide yo kids hide ya wife

[DragonKnight]

@notyouraveragetype: *grabs rifle, goes to bell tower*

[ChronoJoe]

Angry Birds is actually free on Android platforms. Which is like half the market right?

It's also like the top rated free app.

[vickysud]

LOL wattaa joke

Mr.Vesterbacka pls nxt time dont give these kind of lame statements

[VenomProject]

Hahahahaha, tablets are killing consoles! That's rich!

[Der_Kommandant]

Tablets are for hipsters

[antz1104]

True that, but I have Angry Birds for my smartphone and GODDAMN it is a fun game.

Addictive too, I can quit crack now. :D

[Balt]

I hate portable gaming -- I want an epic Uncharted, God of War, Killzone experience on a big screen 1080P, 3d tv!!!!!! Not some small ass, cramped up screen I have to squint to see. I'll never buy into portable gaming.

[Kon]

You have the option.

[TheOneWhoPwnsYou]

Unless you buy an NGP.

[TheTruth89]

lol, what a name

[sickbird]

the game is a dollar...

[Led-Zeppelin]

Any game that sold at least 1.5 million copies made more profit then angry birds at 100 million sold.

[dragon_rocks]

And anyway its 100 million downloads not sold. Half of them would be free downloads on Andrioid + people downloading it again on newer phones with their old account purchase.

[outwar6010]

loooooooool angry birds is a free game

[Led-Zeppelin]

No... its 99 cents

[outwar6010]

no i downloaded it last night on my galaxy s for free

[Strange_Evil]

It must be the Lite version.. The paid version has many additional levels.

[outwar6010]

nope full game cant find a paid version(might be a region thing im in the uk)

[dragon_rocks]

@Strange_Evil:

Full version is Paid on iPhone but free on Android. Look it up.

[Fel08]

R u sure u got the full game and not the demo???

[outwar6010]

yes he's right just asked my bro he had to pay for it on his iphone loooooooooooool

[shammgod]

I played angry birds for 1 day and was bored out of my mind with it

[KillerPwned]

Peter Vesterbacka is just way to into himself.

[koehler83]

Ugh... Tablets ARE consoles!

[TABSF]

Yeah do the math people

Angry Bird - 100m x 0.59p comes to £5.9m
GTA IV - 8m x £39.99 is around £320m

Games like Angry Bird are 1play through, 5min fun on the bus home
Not hardcore full blown multiplay through blockbusters like Zela or Metal Gear

Apples to Oranges

[SuperStrokey1123]

its actually 59 million, not 5.9

[TABSF]

LOL I'm terrible :)

Still its impressive for such a small game.

I prefer Crush the Castle and Fragger to Angry Bird.

[SuperStrokey1123]

We knew what you mean, No worries, and its a fair point that should be considered.

[Stealth20k]

so 1 shovelware game=killing consoles and handheld?

[SuperStrokey1123]

I got it cause it was free... i wouldnt get it if it wasnt...

[jukins]

notice they say downloads and not purchases. to be honest i thought it was freeware lol. so yea alot of ppl have it but im willing to bet most have the free version. everyone i know who has angry birds didnt pay for it lol. then they put it on the ps3 which they claim is "dying"

[CobraKai]

While there is a niche among non-gamers for that cheap, simple game, games and consoles for real gamers aren't going anywhere. The only way consoles will die is if we real gamers don't want it anymore.

[Pikajew]

fucken ipod games by these small little shits have no innovation. In boom blox has a game that angry birds copied. they should come up with something new.

[TheOneWhoPwnsYou]

Yeah sure... That's so valid. OH I MUST PLAY MY ANGRY BIRDS ( A rip off of other sling shot games ) AND NEVER PLAY MY KILLZONE OR GEARS OF WAR! THOSE GAMES SUCK COMPARED TO THIS SLING SHOTTING ACTION!

[therapist]

angry birds is KILLINNG 90% of console games, sure, modern warfare 2, gt5, gears of war and halo sell more and make more,

but you can bet your ass, angry birds made more than alan wake

freaking alan wake has not even hit 1 million and took 5 Years to make

that was a big game too, something like enslaved is lucky to even see a profit

[Argento-Nox]

I think it would have been best if it was mentioned that Angry Birds is a exception as well, considering most apps are not anywhere close to it in sales or profitability. Sure HD tablets may be hooked up to TV's in the near future, but without a physical controller to use what's the point of playing most touch screen games on a TV? Now if there was a wireless Bluetooth controller involved, that would make a huge difference to me.

[TROLOLOLOL]

Correction its killing shytty console games

[ZombieAssassin]

and just how many other tablet/phone games have sold that much??? Yea that's what I thought.

[wissam]

Is this guy even serious ?

[Emilio_Estevez]

A gamer would never choose a tablet over a console or gaming rig. They might buy both, but powerful pc's and consoles offer the much better gaming experience. The sooner they realize that these are 2 seperate markets the better.

[Emilio_Estevez]

What's 100mil times practically nothing? Still almost nothing.

[Fel08]

I love Angry Birds, but his comment was just full of fail.

[tweet75]

for one reason its $1 , if sony, microsoft. and nintendo sold there best titles at this price they would be selling 100 million copies also

[audiojet]

***Alert, Alert.....Special news bulletin.

...appetizers to soon replace meals.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are in trouble. Once an important part of our food structure, now it is unknown if we need them anymore. We'll keep you posted on future events.

[Three_Sisters]

Its a casual game....a lot more people will obviously bite on it...

[blackburn5]

So because a cheap game is downloaded 100 million times that means tablets are killing consoles? If PSN games sold for $1 each they could get big numbers too. 'Hey everyone. Slambolt Scrappers is only $1.' Bam!!!!! 30 million downloads