'Angry Birds' blast off into 'Space'

 

Having conquered smartphones and tablets, the hit casual title Angry Birds ventures off to a new frontier: Space.

Studio Rovio has announced they will launch the game Angry Birds Space on March 22.

According to a blog post on Rovio's official website, Angry Birds Space is a "completely new game with innovative new gameplay, but with some of the familiar Angry Birds elements that fans already know and love."

The post says the game will launch "simultaneously in mobile gaming, animation, retail and publishing," but it does not provide details on which devices will support it.

Angry Birds Space already has an official website with an image of a slingshot on the Moon overlooking Earth.

With the game moving into space, it begs the question whether gravity will play a role in the physics-based game, which requires players to wipe out a group of enemy pigs by flinging birds with a slingshot.

And the shift in location seems appropriate considering its meteoric rise following launch in 2009 for Apple's iOS platform. Last November, Rovio revealed the franchise had crossed a half-billion downloads.

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