Angry Birds Turns 3.0

To celebrate the third anniversary of Angry Birds 1.0, which was released on December 10, 2009, Rovio has today released Angry Birds 3.0, a major update to the original game that, after three years, is still sold at $0.99 on the App Store.

Angry Birds 3.0 comes with a new “pink bird”, 15 new “Birdday levels” and other 15 Bad Piggies-themed levels. On top of that, Rovio has updated the game for the iPhone 5’s Retina display as well; the update is also available in the HD version for the iPad. Rovio isn’t new to releasing free updates to an existing game that users only purchased years ago; in fact, many have argued that one of the points of Rovio’s main strategy is creating “brand loyalty” through free updates that add new levels, features, and, for those interested, in-app purchases.

Just over a year ago we charted Angry Birds’ road to half a billion downloads; since then, Rovio has released a different game, Amazing Alex, and more entries in the Angry Birds franchise, including the popular Star Wars tie-in and a different take on the typical Angry Birds gameplay, Bad Piggies.

Angry Birds 3.0 is now available on the App Store.