Roku’s line of boxes have come some distance from getting used only to stream Netflix, and now the corporate has announced a plan to take its talents to casual gaming. Naturally, the primary app out of the gate this summer could be the wildly popular and increasingly ubiquitous Angry Birds . There is not plenty of details available yet, but we’re told the gaming experience may be available on a brand new player launching this summer, while even if any of the prevailing Roku hardware gets any gaming action is still seen. Roku CEO Anthony Wood is extremely thinking about the company’s gaming prospects saying “Just as we were the primary to enable Netflix to stream instantly to the television, we intend to be the catalyst for remodeling the style people play casual games-starting with Angry Birds-at the biggest screen in the house”. The remainder of the available information is inside the press release after the break and while we wouldn’t bet against the upstart media streamer maker, it could be a little tougher to compete with Xbox 360, PS3 and whatever Nintendo has up its sleeve on their native turf.
Roku Partners with Rovio to Bring First Angry Birds Experience to TV;
Expands Internet TV Platform to incorporate Casual Games
Saratoga, Calif. and Espoo, Finland – June 1, 2011 – Roku, Inc., the leading Internet TV platform, and Rovio, creator of the leading casual game Angry Birds, today announced that the businesses have entered right into a strategic partnership to bring the 1st Angry Birds experience to the television. Roku will offer Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Rio games; launch an Angry Birds video channel featuring Angry Birds animated shorts; and sell Angry Birds merchandise-all via the Roku Channel Store.
The announcement today also marks Roku’s expansion of its successful Internet TV platform to incorporate casual games. Although Rovio is the 1st partner so they can bring popular casual games to Roku, the corporate is in talks with other casual game providers and aggregators, and should make additional announcements including availability details in the following couple of weeks. Additionally, Roku remains an open platform allowing content owners of all sizes to have a channel that streams to the television.
“Angry Birds is the most well liked and fastest growing casual game yet is have been trapped on mobile devices. We believe there is a huge marketplace for games like these at the TV,” said Roku Founder and CEO Anthony Wood. “Just as we were the 1st to enable Netflix to stream instantly to the television, we intend to be the catalyst for reworking the way in which people play casual games-starting with Angry Birds-at the biggest screen in the house.”
“We’re growing Angry Birds right into a lasting global entertainment franchise and Roku’s strong platform enables us to introduce the complete Angry Birds experience of games, videos and merchandise to the television,” said Rovio Chief Marketing Officer Peter Vesterbacka. “It was a simple decision to partner with Roku. They’re a small company like us, are easy to work with, and naturally make the most convenient-selling streaming player. We predict Roku and Angry Birds fans to be thrilled with the television experience that we’re bringing them.”
With its launch in May 2008 because the original Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) streaming player, Roku became the 1st Internet TV platform to take hold with mainstream American consumers. In 2009, Roku added the Roku Channel Store, the 1st true app store and open development environment for long- and short-form streaming entertainment to the television. Since then, Roku is the partner of choice for content owners who would like to reach TV viewers directly. The simplicity of the Roku platform sets it apart-allowing developers to quickly deploy content with quite a few monetization options.
With greater than 250 entertainment channels, Roku players deliver the most effective choice of streaming entertainment available for the television. Roku customers can choose between an immense collection of movies and television shows from Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video (NASDAQ: AMZN), Crackle and Revision3; live and on-demand sports from NBA Game Time, NHL GameCenter Live and supreme Fighting Championship; music from Pandora, MOG, Rdio, and TuneIn Radio; photo and video sharing from Flickr and Facebook; plus news and entertainment from all over-and shortly, popular casual games like Angry Birds.
Angry Birds was released by Rovio in late 2009, and have become a global phenomenon within twelve months. Rovio has since released quite a few Angry Birds games for all major smartphone platforms, in addition to PC and Mac. Today, the Angry Birds games were downloaded greater than 200 million times across all platforms. With this global success, Angry Birds has expanded right into a franchise that now includes broadcast media, merchandising, publishing and services. Rovio has sold greater than three million units of Angry Birds merchandise to consumers in additional than 100 countries.
About Rovio
Rovio is an entertainment media company based in Finland, and the creator of the globally successful Angry Birds franchise. Rovio was founded in 2003 as a mobile game development studio, and the corporate has developed several award-winning titles for different mobile platforms. For additional info about Rovio visit www.rovio.com.
About Roku
Roku is the leading Internet TV platform. Founded by Anthony Wood, inventor of the DVR, Roku was created to reinvent the manner consumers experience TV by making entertainment available instantly. The award-winning Roku streaming players are renowned for his or her simplicity, exceptional value and breadth of content. Roku is privately held and found in Saratoga, Calif. For more info, visit www.roku.com.
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