The hit mobile application Angry Birds may become the newest fad to stopping productivity in the office, as the game is now available to download on Google Chrome and play on Facebook.
The addictive mobile game made by Finnish company Rovio features various livid birds that are catapulted into various objects, using the swipe of a finger, to try and demolish the structure and all the green pigs within it. From their website, Rovio provides the following description: “Use the unique destructive powers of the Angry Birds to lay waste to the pigs’ fortified castles. Angry Birds features hours of gameplay, challenging physics-based castle demolition, and lots of replay value. Use logic, skill, and brute force to crush the enemy.”
Despite the fact that Angry Birds has been downloaded approximately 500 million times, Rovio has never spent any money on marketing the product. Speaking of their success, Mikael Hed, Chief Executive Officer of Rovio, stated: “This is a fantastic landmark achievement for us, and we’re extremely delighted to see such an incredible amount of people enjoying our games.
“We remain committed to creating more fun experiences and bringing exceptional quality to Angry Birds Fans everywhere.”
But with the game proving so popular on Smartphones, will employees working in an office environment now be tempted to play the game on Facebook or Google Chrome during working hours? After all, Facebook will happily tell you in your news feed that your friends have played the game today, and what their current score is; only enticing you to play even more.
Speaking of the move to Facebook, Petri Järvilehto, Senior Vice President (SVP) of Game Publishing at Rovio, stated: “This launch is just the beginning for Angry Birds on Facebook.
“We have great new features and gameplay lined up for the fans in the upcoming weeks. Angry Birds on Facebook will offer a unique experience for our fans, and we’re really excited to finally be on the platform.”
But will the launch of the hit game onto the Facebook platform really affect productivity? According to a recent study, Britain’s economy loses approximately £800 million a year to workers playing games on Smartphones during office hours. With the game so easy to play on a work computer (unless Facebook is blocked at your work), surely this figure is only set to get worse.
It seems there is no getting away from Angry Birds, as they have also moved into the merchandise market. You can buy toys and T-shirts in retail commercial properties of the red, white, yellow, black and blue birds, of which Rovio sell over one million each month. So there really is no hiding from these mad birds.
