Angry Birds 'One of the Most Profitable Games in History'

[DainBramaged]

It was revealed this week that Rovio's hit mobile title Angry Birds cost only $140k to create and has already generated an estimated $70 million. That's 500 times more than what it cost to make.

It's truly a stunning figure, if you think about it, but it got us wondering, could Angry Birds be the most profitable game ever? In short, the answer is likely no, but it's clearly among a handful of incredibly high return titles. We chatted up a few analysts to get their take, since it's rather hard to pin down exact costs and profits on titles.

EEDAR's Jesse Divnich pointed out, "The 140k was the development costs and given the marketing and auxiliary products (plush toys), the actual cost to maintain and operate the Angry Birds brand is certainly higher, but still, it is fair to say that Angry Birds is by far one of the most profitable games in history, relative to costs."

He added, "Keeping in mind that from an absolute perspective, games such as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft do bring in a substantial amount more in profits. And of course that is the current conundrum in our industry. The big publishers know the margins are much higher in the mobile and social markets; however, the size of the actual profit potential remains limited. Angry Birds is an outlier and for every Angry Birds there are hundreds if not thousands that fail in the iOS environment. Of course, I am NOT attempting to subtract from Angry Birds' success, it succeeded against all odds and should be relished as a prime example of where our industry and consumer interest may be heading."

http://www.industrygamers.com/news/angry-birds-one-of-the-most-profitable-games-in-history/

[Hissyspit]

1. I admit my addiction.

No intervention, please.

[DainBramaged]

2. I own a brick (which fell in the toilet and survived)

otherwise, I'd be in digital rehab.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bk_nqUQ0fc&feature=player_embedded