angrybirdsspaceRovio's Angry Birds Space has been named Apple's App of the Week, and as a result, both the full iPhone and the iPad version of the game can be downloaded for free for the first time ever.

Angry Birds Space features the same bird flinging gameplay found in other Rovio titles, but it incorporates new zero gravity game mechanics and space-themed level design.

Angry Birds Space features over 160 interstellar levels on planets and in zero gravity, resulting in spectacular gameplay ranging from slow-motion puzzles to lightspeed destruction. With regular free updates, new in-app purchases, brand new birds, brand new superpowers, and a whole galaxy to explore, the sky is no longer the limit!


Angry Birds Space for the iPhone and Angry Birds Space for the iPad will be free to download for the next seven days as part of the App of the Week promotion.

- Angry Birds Space for the iPhone [Direct Link]
- Angry Birds Space HD for the iPad [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

ArtOfWarfare Avatar
163 months ago
This particular title is easily made free because of the huge brand it's spawned. $0.99/download does add up over billions of downloads, but it is not their only revenue stream. Licensing deals like shirts, hats, stuffed animals, toys, console ports, etc. are surprisingly popular which would easily offset the costs of being free for a few days.

That being said, I'll never understand the appeal of wanting an Angry Birds hat.

I'm not too worried about Rovio - I'm pretty sure they can take care of themselves. I'm also not worried about Apple. I'm worried about myself and every other app developer. By Apple making high quality games free on a regular basis, why would anyone bother buying a high quality game? They know if they wait that Apple or the developer will make it free before long.

I won't - Battery Status will never be free. I've looked at data other people have collected from experimenting with free: downloads shoot up while it's free and as soon as it's not, sales will immediately return to normal.

As far as the merchandise goes - I own a few Valve and Nintendo products besides their games, as well as lots of band shirts. I find they make great conversation starters and make it relatively easy to find other people with the same interests as you. I suppose Angry Birds merchandise lets their diehard fans find each other.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Eduardo1971 Avatar
163 months ago
So much for being a early buyer of the game.

I guess the early bird didn't get the (free) worm.
:o
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Parasprite Avatar
163 months ago
I'm not too worried about Rovio - I'm pretty sure they can take care of themselves. I'm also not worried about Apple. I'm worried about myself and every other app developer. By Apple making high quality games free on a regular basis, why would anyone bother buying a high quality game? They know if they wait that Apple or the developer will make it free before long.

I won't - Battery Status will never be free. I've looked at data other people have collected from experimenting with free: downloads shoot up while it's free and as soon as it's not, sales will immediately return to normal.

As far as the merchandise goes - I own a few Valve and Nintendo products besides their games, as well as lots of band shirts. I find they make great conversation starters and make it relatively easy to find other people with the same interests as you. I suppose Angry Birds merchandise lets their diehard fans find each other.

I would think that is partially because it's easier to make a paying customer for a promotion involving a free game then it is other types of apps. With games you can get them addicted to the concept and release new modified versions that run on pretty much the same code and have previously free users become paid users over time. Once people have your "Battery Status" app, there is not much else you can make money on. For arguments sake, I'm excluding paid apps here.

This is actually one of the huge marketplace differences I've seen on Android as utility apps like the one you develop can actually make a lot of money as they can be written with root access in mind, not having to rely on a limited set of developer hooks and information available (which you are definitely very much aware of). I cringed when I first saw "battery saver" apps for sale on iOS which were mostly informational (e.g. "Try to turn down your display brightness as it wastes battery, here is how you do it.")

I should make clear that I'm not any sort of app developer so I could have a few things wrong.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Parasprite Avatar
163 months ago
Why would anyone bother paying for anything when everything is free sooner or later?

Never mind piracy - I'm pretty sure Apple has destroyed most developer's shots at making money on the iOS App Store.
This particular title is easily made free because of the huge brand it's spawned. $0.99/download does add up over billions of downloads, but it is not their only revenue stream. Licensing deals like shirts, hats, stuffed animals, toys, console ports, etc. are surprisingly popular which would easily offset the costs of being free for a few days.

That being said, I'll never understand the appeal of wanting an Angry Birds hat.

Here's hoping the Mac App Store, Steam, and other stores remain viable and don't follow this same trend.
Hear hear!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pnoyblazed Avatar
163 months ago
star wars was free via starbucks iirc
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
.Asa Avatar
163 months ago
Now they've all been free except Star Wars. There is no excuse for not having Angry Birds.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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