Angry Birds Dev Rovio Gears Up For Consoles With Remedy Hire

Finnish Angry Birds developer Rovio said it is accelerating its console game efforts with the hiring of a new SVP of console development. The new addition to the company is Petri Jarvilehto, who co-founded fellow Finnish developer Remedy Entertainment, the studio behind big budget games like Alan Wake and Max Payne. Jarvilehto will remain on Remedy's board of directors. The hiring for a new head of console development comes as Rovio reports 75 million downloads of its mobile gaming hit Angry Birds. The physics-based game that has players slingshot birds into evil pigs launched in December 2009. Rovio wants to be known beyond mobile gaming. "We want to make Angry Birds a long lasting global gaming franchise, and we see the console platforms as a way of delivering an even more entertaining, powerful and involving experience," said Rovio CEO Mikael Hed in a statement. Jarvilehto added, "With consoles we have the opportunity to create a new kind of gaming experience [with Angry Birds]." The game recently launched on PlayStation Network as a PlayStation Minis title, and a weekend Tweet from Rovio said the franchise will see a Wii and 3DS release later this year. Mac and PC versions launched in January.