Tive's Take

Rovio recently announced Angry Birds Magic which uses NFC and Angry Bird Magic Places which uses location data. If you play Angry Birds in a specific ‘place’, you can unlock features such as the Mighty Eagle - an even angrier bird. Undeniably, this will lead to brand partnerships (- play in your local Starbucks and unlock a power up?) But what interests me is not that Rovio has managed to create another revenue stream beyond their current partnerships, but that location-based products continue to be invested in despite the overwhelming lack of mainstream support. I’m an advocate of location-based games, a self-confessed one time Super Mayor, however I admit that geo-location just hasn’t managed to attracted the early majority… yet. There seems to be a clear reluctance and skepticism of its advantages. The key seems to be relevance. Is my location relevant to my activity ? How does it benefit me, let alone my friends? Proximity can deliver this (as discussed previously). I only hope that the partnerships Rovio forges to reward gamers for visiting Magic Places add enough value to the experience to get the majority to reappraise location-based applications. But I’m struggling to imagine a scenario where playing the game will enrich my time at a rewarding location such as a theme park / bird sanctuary. Much more likely will be the scenario in which my visit to a mundane location such as a train station is enriched by giving me a new game feature. But can the game ever act as an incentive to visit a location? Can the reward of the Mighty Eagle incentivise me enough to go to one location over a competitor? I would love Rovio to create a location-based experience that makes geo-skeptics turn their heads. Building the category isn’t their goal, but when an application as popular as Angry Birds makes this sort of move, it becomes a category influencer and spokesperson. I hope these partnerships serve to clarify the benefits of geo-location to the majorities. I want location-based experiences to grow. I want the mainstream to embrace them. But I’m not sure Angry Birds Magic Places helps. I pray the partnerships it announces soon catalyse rather than confuse the category.

Watch Rovio product managers talk about Angry Birds Magic & Magic Places.