Rovio collaborating on new Angry Birds for China

Finnish powerhouse Rovio has teamed up with Beijing Kunlun Tech to bring its popular Angry Birds franchise to China.

The Chinese gaming firm will be collaborating with Rovio on launching Angry Birds titles that have been developed specifically for its home market. This is the first time Rovio has worked with a Chinese developer on such a venture.

"I am one of the billions of Angry Birds fans around the world," Kunlun CEO Yahui Zhou said. "We are delighted to work with Rovio. Working with Rovio will allow us to increase the reach of our games."

Rovio CEO Pekka Rantala added: "China is a massively important market and the mobile games industry is growing at a very significant pace. The Angry Birds brand is extremely strong in China – it has been downloaded close to half a billion times there.

"Forming a strategic partnership with Kunlun is an important step that helps Rovio establish an even stronger presence in China’s game market with localised content."

The Chinese market has seen dramatic changes in the past year, most notably with the lifting of the console ban. Both Xbox and PlayStation will be available to Chinese consumers, while microconsole Ouya has also targeted this newly-opened market.