We are sad to say that the Angry Birds apps on PC have been officially discontinued. This is, of course, a rather upsetting piece of news that we feel obligated to inform our users about. While the official word comes directly from Rovio’s FAQ, this conversation was originally spurred by some users in a forum thread here on Nest. In particular, we’d like to thank @mixx for really getting the ball rolling in terms of credible information, though unfortunately it was a ball rolling downhill in terms of the storyline.
Here’s the snippet from Rovio’s FAQ (at the time of writing):
Why have PC games been discontinued? Will they receive further updates?
We have decided to discontinue development on PC games to focus on providing a better experience for these games on mobile devices. This change takes effect on November 13th, 2014. Starting from this date, PC games will no longer be available for purchase or download. Additionally, these games will no longer receive updates. To play the most recent versions of the games, please search for the mobile versions of the games on the app marketplace associated with your mobile device.
Again, we understand this is disappointing, but please don’t take this out on us. It was not our decision. Please read on, as we think there are viable options to consider:
- All is not lost! Retrieving your data files on PC/Mac is actually quite simple. Transferring these data files to a mobile device (though not ideal) may keep your progress intact, allowing you to pick up where you left off! I recommend checking our Complete Backup / Transfer Guide.
- In fact, you can start off ahead of where you left off! PC’s last update was on September 22nd, and a few apps have seen updates since then. And don’t forget about On Finn Ice, which is coming very soon on Angry Birds Seasons!
- Mac: Also discontinued.
- We have not yet received any official word about Steam support.
Also, PC users can use Andy roid, to emulate an Android environment on their PC and keep playing the games with the big screen they are used to :)
I will be creating a video tutorial on how to this in the next week or so. See my post below for more details.
I don’t own a tablet and don’t play games on my phone. I do play games on my PC, but looks like Angry Birds won’t be one of those games in the future. Thanks a lot, Rovio.
Began to suspect as much as there has been nothing for the PC since September. I will not be transferring my games. I have tried playing some of the free Angry Birds on a IPad mini I have-I did not enjoy the experience at all. So, unless something happens to change my mind this is goodbye and thanks for all the tips.
PS-Even if I wanted to your Complete Backup/Transfer Guide does not tell me HOW TO port and WHERE to port .lua files from a PC to an iPad.
Yes it does @dg47
It can be confusing, but all the information needed is there. Let us know if we can help.
This is all there is:
Windows PC
The following are directions on how to backup the Angry Birds apps from download.angrybirds.com. Again, you’ll want to copy the following files: highscores.lua, settings.lua, and {purchases}.lua if applicable. The more important question is “where” the heck are these files? The filepath may differ a little based on your version of Windows, but the typical paths are:
Windows XP = C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Application Data\Rovio (or Rovio Entertainment Ltd)\
Windows Vista or 7 = C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\Rovio (or Rovio Entertainment Ltd)\
Windows 8 = see below
Some of these folders may be hidden, so typing manually into the address bar should help when necessary. Alternatively, you can change your folders settings so that hidden files and folders become visible.
Once you’ve accessed the correct directory copy the contents to another folder. This will act as your backup. If you want to be extra safe you can also copy the files to an external drive or use a service like Dropbox.
Disclaimer: The data files for iOS and PC are indeed different than Windows. If you try to transfer files from iOS to PC or vice-versa, things may not work correctly. The most obvious reason is that iOS keeps track of things like achievements and in-app purchases, while PC keeps track of whether you have activated the full version or not. These concepts are not inter-compatible.
The next pages onwards are all about the game itself. Nowhere can I find how to get my .lua files off my PC and on to or accessible by an iPad.
@dg47 I suggest following the directions for iOS while using the path recommendations under PC. Also see, @josm‘s comment below. He was able to get his progress up and running on his Android.
Thanks for your help, guys.
Not convinced it is worth doing on an iPad mini- everything is a bit too small when zoomed out to see birds and target in full for me
Maybe look out for a cheap second hand large android pad (Don’t have a mobile phone of any sort)
I’m Migrating to Andy_Roid for PC versions (only) of all my AB games.. My problem is..I can’t import my .lua files. Any help is greatly appreciated…
Well, that’s just great :-(
I might try the Andy roid thing in the future, but right now it’s just disappointing to see Rovio giving up on a platform available to 2 billions people.
We understand @asher But PC/Mac only represent a very small fraction of daily players.
At least they could have published a last update with all the up to date levels…
Now, we will have these “coming soon” levels forever.
It would have been nice after being in the dark for almost a year…
I guess they couldn’t afford even that. Sad.
@asher No kidding. Somewhere in the vault sits that stupid partially-finished Short Fuse update. If nothing else, that should have been finished.
I said it in the forum and I’ll say it again here, Rovio really should update them to be current with November 13th for all the people that have been waiting months for the updates. Especially for the second part of Short Fuse. Eight+ months wait just to find out it isn’t coming, that’s just cruel.
Wow…just wow. Guess I’ll be uninstalling them. I bought every single one that was available on the PC. Hate playing on mobile devices, hate the annoying in-game app purchases, the ads, etc. Do you now have to have a Google Games or whatever it was called that AB Stella requires? Stopped playing the minute it said I had to have this account.
I’m keeping mine installed. There are still tons of levels where I need to improve my scores, and there will be plenty of Daily Challenge levels that I’ll still be able to play on PC.
If you use Android and want to download the games, I think you do need to have the Google Games account, and be logged into it. But I don’t think that’s uncommon. I had to create a Rovio account to buy the PC versions of my games. I think that account just lets them keep track of your apps, scores, and get update notifications to you.
I’ve only kept them installed awaiting newer updates. I’ve already 3 starred every level, got all the Golden Eggs, etc.
A Rovio account is one thing, but Google Games is another can of worms. From what I saw when I was playing AB Stella on Bluestacks (I was surprised it let me play a couple of levels), Google Games account also wants you to sign up for a Google+ account, which is a huge “no way” in my book. I don’t want it, I’ll never want it (don’t like social media sites) why does Google have to shove it down my throat with every website/software they own?
The PC versions aren’t “freemium” and I think that’s one of the main reasons Rovio is not updating them anymore. You pay the 4.99 and you get the entire game. They aren’t making any extra money off the in-game purchases, the ads, etc.
Ah well..it was fun while it lasted.
Ah, see, that’s the thing. Doing this, they’re able to force a LOT of players who’d been avoiding the ads and promotions to see them, thereby increasing ad revenue.
I’ll keep mine installed anyway. It’s different experience from the apps installed on my Ipad and Iphone.
Since I mostly play on PC, I’ve been watching this issue closely ever since I joined ABN. I did some research, and as far as I was able to determine, PC/Mac accounted for about 1% of Rovio’s total customer base, and an even smaller percentage of revenue. The lack of IAPs and ad support meant Rovio had to charge $5 for the games, with zero potential for any additional profit. Clearly, this model was not profitable, and I’d like to think they considered raising the price of PC titles to compensate, but determined it would be too expensive for anyone to buy.
ABN is a bit of an anomaly, in that about 6-10% of scores on the leaderboard list PC as their platform, so this really affects a sizeable chunk of nesters. Because of this, in the next week or so, I’m going to create a video tutorial showing how you can transfer your PC scores to one of the Android emulators. As far as I know, this is the only way for us to keep that Big Screen + Mouse action going. Will post more details on this later.
Thanks, I am greatly looking forward to your video.
This is certainly very sad news even though we had been speculating this could be a likely possibility. Kind of like when a loved one gets old and sickly and you know their time is coming soon ~ but it’s still quite a shock when they pass on. This news kinda makes me feel like that…
I would have gladly paid a nominal fee for each update should that have made a difference in their decision. In fact I had always thought the purchase price of the AB games was incredibly low considering there was no charge for the updates. Perhaps a yearly subscription might have generated sufficient revenues to have made it profitable to continue PC support? I would consider a $10 yearly subscription fee per game (perhaps slightly even more) to be a great value for the enjoyment I get from playing the Angry Bird games! What a shame they didn’t go that route or at least have asked our opinion ~ we’re probably as loyal a customer base as any company could hope for. I think AB Management made a poor decision by not even testing a subscription based service for at least a year to see if it might work.
The use of an Android emulator seems promising however having purchased the license for the PC platform how will it be possible to get future updates for the games? Do we now need to purchase each game once again for the Android platform? And if you have a preference of the various emulators that are available @Kelani, would you mind recommending your favorite(s)?
In lieu of flowers……
@uncle-b I think if they even bothered to look at other options, the whole “drop in the bucket” status wasn’t helping us. Given the financial issues, and layoffs (I bet most of those were the PC dev team), it’s clear they’re going to focus on just the most profitable elements of the business.
As for the emulators, I think you’d need to play the Free versions, or re-buy the games. But at $0.99 to $2.99, that’s not too bad.
I’ve heard good and bad things about each emulator, so I don’t really have a preference yet. When I make the video tutorial, I’ll see if there’s a clear winner, i.e. What works best, and is easiest to use..
The only downside about emulation is that it requires a decent computer to perform well. Android emulation is on the lighter side, so most recent computers should be able to handle it. My old laptop which I got in 2010 just crashed when I attempted to launch Bluestacks(Android emulator), but emulated Nintendo 64 games just fine. My new laptop which I got a couple months ago can run Bluestacks and a handful of other emulators, including Wii and Playstation 2, that require a good computer. I hope this information is somewhat helpful.
I was reading up on the emulators, and it said that Andy has good game performance, and the ability to allocate a lot of resources to the emulator. That might help overcome some of the bluestacks limitations. I’m sure there’ll be trade-offs with each of them, but hopefully there’ll be one that works well for most people. AB will be easier. I wouldn’t expect Transformers to work great on old boxes, though :)
I downloaded Andy and then downloaded Stella (since it never was available for PC). It works well the screen is still large. One drawback is that since I usually zoom out with the scroll wheel every time I do that in Stella it crashes the game. So don’t zoom out. Now it’s a question if it saves our progress and where so I can download the other Angry Birds games and copy over my progress.
Another drawback other than the ads was that it did ask me to create a Google+ account which I don’t have but I cancelled out of it. You have to hit cancel twice and then it will let you play.
If you edit your Andy settings, and change the mouse scroll to a lower number, it may work better. I think it defaults to 250. I’d try something like 100 or 50 and see if it still crashes.
It even crashes when I set it to 10 on all the Angry Birds games. Maybe I’ll try the Ctrl key as @pauloaguia suggests.
I never tried Stella and I have an older version of Andy where the scroll wheel didn’t work for zoom, at least it doesn’t with Epic. So I use dthe Ctrl key for zoom and I have no crashes.
Not sure if it’ll help…
Thanks @pauloaguia. Pressing the Crtl button then using the scroll wheel does work. It’s a bit quirky sometimes but it does work. Thanks.
I’m sure if the price went up to 10 dollars, people would still pay the money to get their Angry Bird’s fix. I play PS3 currently and was hoping the games would be continued on the next gen consoles as well. The games start off at 39.99 and the add-ons have been 4.99 each. I know it didn’t say it was discontinued on consoles but all that’s been available so far is the collection with Angry Birds, Seasons, and Rio, with two DLC updates. Also, Angry Birds Star Wars was finally released not too long ago. It seems like if they marketed it better toward consoles, especially the PS4 and X-Box One, that kids and adults alike, would “flock” towards these games instead of iphones, ipads and other smartphones. The games play better on bigger screens with controllers than swiping your finger across a glass screen.
As of late, more and more games that started out for portable devices have been coming to consoles lately and are doing well. Why not keep the movement going? Paying 39.99 for the games and 4.99 for each update seems like enough money to keep it viable.
*Sigh*. At the rate Rovio’s going, I might just lose intrest in the Angry Birds franchise altogether…
@abmaster2
Sadly I have to agree with you. The angry Birds franchise has lost its appeal with the way it is handled……
@abmaster2 I have to agree with you. All the old Rovio games are being ignored by newer games, and now this …
@james1562
I wonder if most of the older games being ignored is because of the way the newer games a have been designed. It doesn’t take much effort to see that the “freeium ” games garner a lot more cash for the developers…… When it doubt of something, follow the money.
This indeed is sad new, i had all my progress on PC.
I was able to copy my Highscores.lua , Settings.lua and bi_data.lua from my pc (C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Rovio\Angry Birds) to my android device (device/data/data/com.rovio.angrybirds/files) . It actually is working fine, its even synced with rovio account now.
is your method successful for all apps of angry birds (ABO, ABrio, ABSpace, ABseason, ABSWII?)
@arushss the files are all the same with those games, so i think yes, but i only tried it now with abo. will try it later for others
@Josm
I am using 4.4.2, and for some reason.. I cannot locate the ‘device’ folder you mention in this post.. any thoughts?
Glad I still have all my Angry Birds apps.
Are you a PC user? If so, you still have your Angry Bird games on your PC and play them, they won’t be updated anymore.
Also, if you ever have problems with the install and need to reinstall the game, a backup copy of each game’s installer is always saved in this folder:
C:\Users\{Username}\AppData\Roaming\Rovio Entertainment Ltd\{Game X.X.X}\install\{Alphanumeric folder}
You can just run that to reinstall or repair the game
@kelani + the latest version always will stay here: http://download.angrybirds.com/
@Josm Hmm. So, are they leaving just the ABSW2 installer up for some reason? The line in their FAQ pretty clearly says that all the links would be removed (Starting from this date, PC games will no longer be available for purchase or download”)
@kelani that link includes all pc games. They will stay there i guess for all the people who bought a license in the past, and want to download it again.
@josm Ah, sorry. I was in a rush and didn’t scroll down to see all of the games listed. Thanks for posting that. I hope it does stay live.
To answer all y’all’s questions, no I don’t use PC. I’m iOS all the way.
@kelani the site is also offline now :(
That’s sad that the Angry Birds Games are being discotinued on the PCs (Windows).
Glad I’m on the Mac…..although, I have been thinking about not keepng the Angry Bird Games on my Mac anymore (I just have original, seasons & space…used to have Rio) and sticking with using the games on my Nexus 7 (when I get a ipad after my Nexus 7 stops working in a few years, I’ll have them on there too). They seem to be best played on the tablets since you can use your finger.
I still haven’t tried Angry Birds Transformers yet.
@jaythecanadian Even though Mac wasn’t mentioned this time, I think it will be at some point. I really hope I’m wrong about that. If you look at Rovio’s wikipedia page, all new titles released since Juice Cubes state they won’t be developed for PC or Mac. Also, the number of Mac customers is the same or lower than PC, and the non-mobile future just doesn’t look very promising.
*sniff* It’s so awful. Hey cheer up, I think I’m getting a tablet for Christmas! :D
For anyone that has IOS versions, I have a question. Is it possible to play the newer levels of AB games without having to unlock earlier levels? I’m guessing for Seasons it’s possible, but Star Wars 2 not so much. But how about the others, Rio, AB Original, etc. I’m debating rebuying the games on IOS, but not if I have to play through all the old levels again just to get to the new stuff. Thanks for any help.
@upsidown I’m not sure, actually. Seasons definitely. I think Rio and Space as well.
There may be ways around this though. Feel free to send me a private message.
@upsidown Don’t worry at all. You can just copy your highscore.lua and settings.lua files from PC to IOS and not lose anything.
Thanks, all the games seem to be working fine on my IOS now by copying the files over.
After a couple hours of play, the only issue I came across by copying files from PC to IOS was that on AB Original, all my golden eggs relocked themselves. Oddly enough, all the stars are still intact from my earlier plays.
@upsidown This actually may be related to a Golden Egg numbering bug introduced in the last (RED) update. Rovio has confirmed that they will be fixing the numbering, which should also fix this problem.
cc @admins
@upsidown @birdleader yeah, thats a know bug that i had also before when i’m offline. I copied the files and transfered them to rovio account, when i have a internet connection and logged in, my eggs are there, but when i’m logged in without internet connection the eggs are 0. this is a bug that was known months ago. https://www.angrybirdsnest.com/forums/topic/angry-birds-classic-golden-egg-disappears/
I haz a sad. I’ve got Angry Birds on all my Androids and my PCs. Most of my game time has been spent on the PC; the screen is large enough to see, and I don’t misfire birds as much as can happen with a touchscreen. Oh, well, I’ve got one or two machines that haven’t been played with that much, so I still have some high scores to do.
So would the FB Friends Tournament be discontinued on PC too?
Angry Birds Friends is an online app game on Facebook. This is about the downloaded games (Angry Birds original, Seasons, Rio, Space, Star Wars Original, Star Wars II, and Bad Piggies) on the computer that are being discontinued on the PC (windows).
RIP Angry Birds PC
y ¿no hay rovio account para poder transferir todo de pc a dispositivo movil?, por favor que en todos los juegos sin rovio account la integren para poder mantener tu progreso a salvo
@bomb-ben Lo siento por la mala traducción, pero mi español no es muy bueno. Yo no creo que se pueda utilizar cuentas Rovio para transferir del PC al móvil. Es posible para algunos juegos nuevos (ABSW2), pero no todos ellos. Hay dos maneras de hacer esto a mano.
1. Utilice nuestro tutorial copia de seguridad para copiar tus puntuaciones más. : https://www.angrybirdsnest.com/angry-birds-ultimate-backup-tutorial-for-all-platforms/
2. Para jugar en su PC, usted tendrá que usar un emulador de Android como Bluestacks, Genymotion, o Andy. Nececitas que comprar las versiones de Android de esos juegos, y luego copiar las partituras de PC a la copia Android.
It is sad to read that Rovio is halting development on the PC versions and maybe MACs for their games. Wish the very best to the PC users that are affected by this change and hope that all will continue to play the games through another device or modify one’s computer to the options discussed above.
What is interesting about the posts is that there are a bunch of very intelligent folks who know and have presented different alternatives to this situation. Learn something new each time I read a new post. Thanks to all.
I played on an iPhone first and then iPad. Still play AB Lite on the iPhone. Tried the computer method back in 2012 and was a bit slow at the game play. Maybe needed something other than a mouse to play. When I went to the iPad from the phone, it was great because one could see everything on a big screen. I understand that mobile platforms are not for everyone but if one still likes the AB games, give them a try.
RIP angry birds PC.. I think I won’t be playing angry birds pc games anymore unless I get a 10 inch android tablet as it is difficult to play slingshot games on my Samsung galaxy note 5.1 inch phone considering the screen size.. Till then I will continue with ABfacebook on lappy and epic, transformers on my phone. But I am still hoping for ABO and SWII updates to land on PC by year end..
Heart broken PC fan :(
Arush
Well! was kind of expecting this to happen :(
Apparantly its really all about the Money and not about a happy gamer :(
The end of PC updates and suddently you can get all the angry birds games, even bad piggies, in the Windows phone store for free!! At least in Denmark..
This still sucks bad feathers and is no near any compensation for laying of the PC section…
The problem with the PC games you´we bought through time is that, the activation code only Works 3 times, so fingers crossed for my computer don´t need another reformat, since there is no more codes to buy :(
So, one need to buy a tablet or android thingy!! Hmmmmm…. Don´t looks like i got 300-500$ laying about for that..
So thank you Rovio – Didn´t get a new customer for your “ingame” Money machine out of me ;)
MANY MANY THANKS to all at ABN – Crew and members, for outmost help at sour times to get that 3rd star and making it all fun ;)
THANKS and GREETS from Denmark <3
Well, that’s just how it is. AB is an app and is not a PC game. You either get a mobile or just don’t play AB at all.
I stopped playing Angry Birds on PC long before but still its a sad news.
Really too bad!! I’ve downloaded a few of the themes this year, and have yet to get through all of them!! Never heard of this “andry Roid” application. Will need to check that out!!
I remember when they took more pride in their work. I have to find some other amusement company who takes more pride in themselves than to make their games only available on devices with tiny screens.
You want bigger screen? Get a Tablet or iPad.
Aah! I’m glad about this coz I won’t have to wait an eternity for updates. Now I can peacefully say Gudbye to:
Rovio, Angry Birds, AngryBirdsNest, Bad Piggies, Bloated Pig, Eagle-guy, and Everyone else.
TQ for Everything.
Peace.
@spacer, anyone else thinking of leaving. Please don’t go until Keleni does his video tutorial on using emulators to continue playing AB games on your PC! I don’t play on PC or Mac, but do know how difficult it is to play on even a large phone.
@Kelani — How about also doing a tutorial on how to play using your TV as a monitor with a mouse or touch-pad for control?
Plus Rio, Space, Star Wars 1,and Bad Piggies are up to date and the chances of them getting new levels in the future is unlikely at best anyways. Only Original, Seasons, SW2, and all the newest games (that were not going to be released on PC anyways) are effected by this right now.
@mvnla2 There are so many ways to do the Play on your TV thing. I don’t know much about them. All I could cover is how to use iOS and Reflector to show on a PC screen, and possibly iOS + Chromecast to show AB on a TV, but I’m not even sure that last one’s possible.
I suspected this was going to happen when Ham Dunk came out. How were they going to make me pay for the extra Levels? That is what it gets down to: Money! Not this lame duck of an excuse they posted. Musicians make “Greatest Hits” with one new track and directors bring out “Director’s Cut” with 2 minutes of extra film so that suckers like me spend double/triple the Money on things. And now Rovio want me to get out and buy the games again for my Smartphone. I am playing it parallel and it is a pain. But sorry – not everybody will be able to Transfer their data from a PC to an Android. And I will not start playing all over again – too many lucky shots that I will be able to repeat. I hope Rovio and the same s.s. that the famous Irish Rock Band got when they went free on iTunes. Perhaps that will make them contemplate their stand.
While I feel bad for you PC diehards, yup, it does come down to “money.” And if anybody thinks Rovio is rolling and rolling in filthy lucre, they simply haven’t been reading the business page news. Given the tiny, tiny number of overall users on PC and the lack of advertising and IAP revenue, this move was not only expected, it was long overdue.
Yes, it sucks to lose your preferred platform. But rather than renouncing Rovio forever, I’d encourage anyone affected to see it as an opportunity. I’d always played AB games on an iPod Touch, but I recently downloaded the HD editions onto my iPad and have been replaying levels that I hadn’t played in years in years. And it’s fun. Those earliest levels on ABO and ABS were probably the very best, and it’s a pleasure to revisit them after all these years. (And compared to a iPad Touch, every level looks HUGE on iPad, so I can’t really relate to those grousing about having to play on “small” tablets.)
@zlyeptitsy Well said.
Personally, I’m keeping my games installed, and when I revisit levels, or see a Daily Challenge level that I can play on PC, that’s what I’m going to do. Just because Rovio says PC is dead to new development, does NOT mean the games are going to disappeaar, or stop working. Plus, if us PC players are masters of anything, it’s how to play the game without having the latest update :)
Re screen sizes, I will say this. I’ve played AB on iPad Mini, Air and PC, and by far, I prefer PC. With a good mouse, you get more precise control, and the larger screen is just awesome. You can see more of the levels, and zoom out more, yet still be able to see things without a microscope.
It is very sad, that we have to say bye to the PC versions of the game.. and yes, it’s true.. if you’re not making any money on it.. you’re spending money on it.
However.. not all is lost for those of you that like to play on large screens.. as was my main reason for having the PC versions as well as mobile.. for Android, and iOS.. you can get an HDMI cable for your phone if it supports it, and play on your big screen TV!
Thanks for what you have done for us, Rovio…
I only play the games ( All of them ) on Android so I can’t say I’m devastated about this but it is still bad for all the “Computer Flingers” out there. I really wonder if this has anything to do with this “Cutting 16% Of Work Face” thing. I had a hunch back when that happened that Rovio was losing money and AB is slowly ending but now I’m beginning to believe that. PC seems like a good place to start IMO.
Well I just confirmed that they are in fact losing money. I just read an article on the Internet that in the last year they lost over 1.4 million! Just look up Is Rovio Losing Money? You might be surprised at what you get.
pfff..make an online power up store for pc and problem solved..more money money….
Wouldn’t make good business sense. Most PC players (myself included) like that platform specifically because it doesn’t have Powerups or ads. Never mind the huge security problems a PC powerup store would encounter, creating a store would be incredibly expensive with no real return on the investment. It’d be like Wal Mart building a Supercenter in a town with 500 residents.