Rovio hurls Angry Birds out of Facebook beta with new name and content

The Facebook version of Rovio's Angry Birds is no longer in beta on the social network. As of today, the game been re-branded Angry Birds Friends and now includes several new social features designed to increase competition among players. The long-delayed Facebook version of Angry Birds finally hit the platform in open beta in February. The title immediately proved a monster hit for Rovio, regularly appearing on our weekly lists of fastest-growing Facebook games. The title peaked at 24.1 million monthly active users and 3.3 million daily active users in late April, but has since declined to 20.7 million MAU and 2.3 million DAU. While some churn among a Facebook game's userbase is normal, Rovio is clearly looking to boost engagement and keep players hooked with Angry Birds Friends' new social features and reward schemes. The game's weekly tournaments allow players to compete with their friends on four new levels from Monday to Sunday each week. The players with the top three scores will earn gold, silver and bronze trophies. The trophies are similar to the crowns, which are awarded to players when they earn a high score on a level; unlike crowns, though, players permanently keep trophies. Gold trophies provide three power-up bundles, silver trophies give players two bundles and bronze doles out one power-up bundle. Players will also receive a power-up for each weekly tournament level they play, as well as one more for participating in the overall tournament. Whether or not the new features are enough to offset Angry Birds Friends's falling numbers remains to be seen, but the competitive elements, bonus content and weekly supply of new levels will likely make the game seem fresh for many players who've already done everything else there is to do.

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Rovio hurls Angry Birds out of Facebook beta with new name and content

Mike Thompson

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