Angry Birds firm branches out

Angry Birds maker Rovio Entertainment has topped Apple's iTunes charts with a new game - and there's not a pig in sight.

Physics-based Amazing Alex is the first title from the games firm in more than two years that doesn't feature the now-famous birds and their slingshots.

While Angry Birds concentrates on destroying the pigs who have stolen their eggs through different means, Amazing Alex concentrates on puzzle solving, moving tennis balls, popping balloons and taking out cardboard robots.

The game, which went on sale earlier this week, immediately took the number one slot in Apple's paid apps chart.

"Launching new franchises has turned out to be tough for even the most successful app vendors, but Amazing Alex reached the Number One position in the iPhone Paid App chart in eight hours," said analyst Tero Kuittinen from Finnish mobile firm Alekstra."This is the fastest time to hit the Number One position in America - without help from being a sequel, a movie tie-in or an extension of an existing brand."

Rovio developed the game after buying the rights to the Casey's Contraptions intellectual property.

It is hoping to replicate the success of Angry Birds, which spawned several sequels and racked up 648 million downloads by the end of last year.

In 2011, total revenue amounted to €75.4 million, with earnings before tax reaching €48 million.

Additional reporting: Reuters