What do you do if you run a company that once had a wildly successful video game, but that success has started to fade away? If the company you run is called Rovio, you go the celebrity route. Rovio has just created a new version of Angry Birds called ‘Angry Birds Pop’ featuring none other than Shakira.

The Shakira Bird

If you’re picturing some kind of bird with long hair and hips that don’t lie, you wouldn’t be too far off. The new ‘Shakira Bird’ looks like a mash up of the angry birds that you love with some kind of oddly placed yellow cartoon hair. The game is available for a limited time only, and comes with some special pop star features. For example, you can use Shakira’s unique ‘Love Bubble’ to score some extra points (yes, Love Bubble).

Rovio has chosen to go the celebrity pop star route for obvious reasons. Angry Birds still draws some fans, but the game doesn’t have anywhere near the same fan based as, say, popular Star Wars games. Since Angry Birds was once at the top of the game food chain, Rovio is somewhat desperate to get people hooked on Angry Birds once again. Thus, the company has turned to the one thing that tends to draw people of any age - celebrity.

Limited Time Offer

If you love Shakira (or have a kid that does), the new Angry Birds game is available for a limited time only. But, this isn’t the first collaboration we are bound to see between Shakira and Rovio.

Rumour has it that the two will be working together more in the future, and this means that you can expect to see a blond headed bird popping up in many more Angry Birds games. Whether or not Shakira will keep playing the bird version of herself remains to be seen, but you can expect to see her in many more instalments.

The partnership works well for both parties. Shakira was (as rumor has it) seeking to have an app created that was centered around her, and Rovio can always hitch its wagon to some kind of star.

The target market for Angry Birds has also changed given that Shakira’s audience is mostly younger. All of that is okay with Rovio too, since any fan base is a fan base after all. Aside from some added pop star changes to the game, the new Angry Birds Pop is just as you would expect it to be.

Where to Get It

If you want to check out Angry Birds Pop, you can do so by looking in the iOS or Android store, and downloading the game. The initial download is free as usual, but you can buy various items to increase gameplay time or to excel further in the game (if you do have a Shakira obsessed teen, make sure to keep tabs on this!).

Will the new Angry Birds Pop succeed for both Shakira and Rovio? It’s hard to determine the outcome right now, but Shakira fans (and there are plenty of those) are bound to download the game even if it’s just for the sake of curiosity.