Rovio execs split on Angry Birds Space for Windows Phone

Angry Birds Space launched with high expectation, back on Thursday and Rovio pushed out the app for multiple platforms. Windows Phone though, seems to have been left behind. The app is currently available for iOS (iPhone and iPad versions), Android, PC and Mac, so Microsoft hasn’t been completely ignored. According to a report by Bloomberg, Rovio’s Chief Marketing Officer, Peter Vesterbacka said that the company had not planned on releasing Angry Birds Space for Windows Phone. This could be a huge blow for Nokia who are banking on the Microsoft platform for their latest line of phones. If games like Angry Birds do not become available for those phones, the mobile gaming audience is highly unlikely to adopt the new platform. 

Angry Birds Space on Windows Phone?

However, later Rovio CEO Mikael Hed made a statement that the game will indeed come to Windows Phone. A spokesperson for Rovio said that the game will come to all relevant platforms and more announcements will be made as there is further news. Currently, the standard version of Angry Birds holds the top spot in the Windows Phone App Store. Hed did not provide any details as to when the game would come to Windows Phone and Vesterbacka said that writing an app for Windows Phone is a big undertaking. He said, “We want to be on all screens, but we have to consider the cost of supplying the smaller platforms. With Windows Phone it’s a lot of work to technically support it.”

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Rovio does realize that Microsoft is gaining momentum for its smartphone platform. However, the app environment for the platform is still underdeveloped and if companies like Rovio are thinking twice about writing for it, then the app environment might remain dangerously underdeveloped. However, seeing that Vesterbacka made the statement of Angry Birds Space not coming to Windows Phone first and then Hed changed the statement, Rovio could in fact be working on more Windows Phone support.