Racing-themed 'Angry Birds' to launch in June

What do you get when you cross "Angry Birds" with Formula 1 star Heikki Kovalainen? A racing-themed webgame titled "Angry Birds Heikki" that revs up its engines on June 18.

 

Rovio is teaming up with Kovalainen on what the racing star called an innovative and novel merchandise and webgame partnership.

 

“This is a great partnership on many levels. It’s the first time that I’ve partnered with a gaming company, and it fits with my larger focus on partnering with unique brands. As a Finn, I’m also happy to be backing a Finnish company on a global platform. Most importantly, I’m a big Angry Birds fan!” Kovalainen said on his website. Co-branded merchandise will be released later this spring with the webgame.

 

Kovalainen will even sport a new co-branded "Angry Birds" helmet, which will debut at the inaugural Formula 1 race in Melbourne, Australia.

 

Harri Koponen, EVP Consumer Products at Rovio Entertainment, said they are excited to be working with Heikki on this "first partnership of its kind in F1.”

 

“The helmet looks amazing, and we think people are really going to enjoy the webgame and merchandise,” Koponen said.

 

According to Kovalainen's website, Martin Anayi of IMG Worldwide worked closely with Mikael Hästbacka of Numea Consulting to bring Heikki and Rovio together, based on Heikki’s enthusiasm for supporting Finnish companies looking for an international platform.

 

It said that with "Angry Birds" being a true online phenomenon, a collaboration with Heikki and the Finnish company seemed like a natural fit.

 

A separate article on The Next Web said Rovio has set up a new mini-site for Angry Birds Heikki, teasing its launch with social sharing buttons to create buzz on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

 

It added Rovio’s latest game in the Angry Birds range has already topped 50 million downloads on all platforms in 35 days, "driving total cumulative downloads for the entire franchise past the 1 billion mark." — ELR, GMA News