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50 million downloads later, Angry Birds is finally coming to Windows Phone 7. Microsoft has confirmed that Rovio’s feathery smart phone hit will make its debut on the WP7 Marketplace this April, and it won’t be alone.
Six new games have been confirmed as coming to Windows Phone 7, introduced at Microsoft’s Spring Showcase games event in San Francisco yesterday. The other five are Doodle Jump, Plants Vs Zombies, Hydro Thunder Go, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1 and geoDefense.
All six games will be fully plumbed into Microsoft’s Xbox Live community, with achievements and global leaderboards. Here’s an interesting point: Angry Birds isn’t being published by Rovio for Windows Phone 7: according to Microsoft’s Must-Have Games on Windows Phone 7 site, the publisher will be… Microsoft Game Studios.
It’s taken a while for Angry Birds to come to Windows Phone 7, partly because of a public spat between Rovio and Microsoft last October. Microsoft had used the Angry Birds icon on a pre-launch website for WP7, leading Rovio to tweet, “We have NOT committed to doing a Windows Phone 7 version. Microsoft put
the Angry Birds icon on their site without our permission.”
News that the two companies have sorted out their differences — to the extent of signing a full publishing deal — is great news for WP7 gamers. The new version will include 195 levels, although it’s unclear whether the Mighty Eagle power-up, which is paid for via in-app payment on the iPhone, will be part of the Windows Phone version.
Feeling a little tired of Angry Birds mania? If you’ve got an iPhone or iPod touch, allow us to point you in the direction of Tiny Wings. The game was released last week, and has already streaked to the top of the App Store charts, provoking plenty of comment along the lines of “It’s the new…” — well, we won’t say the name again. You know what we mean.
