If you are planning to buy the classic Angry Birds game without microtransactions from Google Play, you should hurry. Rovio announced that Rovio Classics: Angry Birds, a remastered version of the original mobile game that was a huge success, will be removed from Google’s app store on Thursday due to “the game’s impact on the game’s broader game portfolios.”
Strangely enough, the App Store version of the game will still be available, but Rovio plans to rename the game to Red’s First Flight.
It can be predicted that Rovio removed this remastered version of Angry Birds from the list to lure people into free games that monetize microtransactions in the series. As a $1 one-time purchase, the Rovio Classics version of the game probably doesn’t make nearly the same amount of money as other Angry Birds games. Also, this one-time payment may be keeping players away from other games in the series. In such a case, it would be reasonable for Rovio to see abandoning this game as a more sensible business decision.
However, Rovio’s decision to change the name of the game instead of removing it in the App Store, as it did on Google Play, casts some doubt on this approach. Changing the name of the game to Red’s First Flight will probably make finding the game much more difficult if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, but it won’t stop anyone who wants it from getting the game.
Rovio’s announcement via a tweet is as follows: “Rovio Classics: Angry Birds will be removed from the Google Play Store as of Thursday, February 23 due to its impact on the game portfolio. In the App Store, it will be renamed as Red’s First Flight pending further review. In addition, users who have previously downloaded Rovio Classics: Angry Birds will be able to continue playing the game after it has been removed from the store list.”
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