LONDON —
Angry Birds maker Rovio is teaming up with a major U.S. retail chain to put its branded toys, books and T-shirts in dedicated areas of thousands of stores nationwide, the Finnish company’s marketing chief said Tuesday.
The maker of the world’s most-downloaded video game plans the launch to coincide with the debut later this week of Angry Birds Space, the latest in the series of puzzle games being played for a total of 300 million minutes a day. Angry Birds has been downloaded more than 700 million times on Apple iPhones, other smartphones, iPads and desktop computers. It also is the fastest-growing game on Facebook.
Rovio sees itself as an entertainment brand, not just a games company. It did not name the U.S. retailer ahead of the official launch, but it will be bigger than an existing partnership with bookseller Barnes & Noble. Rovio also plans to open retail stores in China soon. Reuters
