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Angry Birds downloaded 500 million times

Has "a good shot" at a billion, says Rovio.

Angry Birds has been downloaded more than 500 million times, according to maker Rovio.

More than 266 billion levels have been played and 400 billion birds shot. Worldwide, the game is played for 300 million minutes each day.

"This is a fantastic landmark achievement for us, and we're extremely delighted to see such an incredible amount of people enjoying our games," said Rovio CEO Mikael Hed, speaking at the Slush 2011 event in Finland, reported by International Business Times.

Chief marketing officer Peter Vesterbacka added: "We think we have a good shot at being the first entertainment brand that has a billion fans."

With growth of 300 million Angry Birds downloads since May this year, who would bet against him?

Rovio intends to have Angry Birds on all gaming formats and to expand the brand with films, animated TV series and merchandise. Rovio is currently trying to conquer China.

For Rovio, there is nothing other than Angry Birds.

"Game makers buy into their own bulls***," Vertersacka said earlier this year. "You think you can make hit after hit. We know how hard it is to do that, so we are betting everything on Angry Birds."

Rovio raised eyebrows earlier this year when revealing to Eurogamer that it valued itself "north of PopCap" - the company EA bought in a deal worth $1.3 billion.

Unofficial Angry Birds on Kinect.

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