The mega-popular mobile game Angry Birds — which has sold 200 million downloads — is coming soon to TV thanks to a deal with Roku. Starting this summer, new Roku boxes will have Angry Birds pre-installed for free. And that’s not all.
“Roku will offer Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Rio video games; launch an Angry Birds video channel featuring Angry Birds animated shorts; and sell Angry Birds merchandise—all via the Roku Channel Store,” explains Roku CEO Anthony Wood, who adds, “I’m personally super excited about this!”
Roku started as a very niche set-top box — a low cost way to bring Netflix and Hulu Plus to your TV set. They’ve expanded distribution into stores like Best Buy, sales are up, and now they’re getting into the casual gaming business.
“I think the same formula that has made Roku successful with video streaming can be applied to games by making entertainment inexpensive and easy to access,” says Wood. “Until now, these casual mobile games have been trapped on your phone. We are changing that by being the first to create an open TV platform that can play games like Angry Birds, and soon many others.”
