Rovio partners with GSN Games for cash-wagering Angry Birds game

Rovio has partnered with GSN Games to release a cash-wagering take on its popular bird-flinging game franchise, Angry Birds. 

Angry Birds Champions isn’t a new standalone game from Rovio however. The title, which Engadget says was created in conjunction with the game’s original dev, appears on GSN Game’s WorldWinner real-money tournament game platform.

It’s a notable jump for the veteran mobile game franchise, especially during a period of time where concerns about the relationship between gambling and video games are a high point. 

In Angry Birds Champions, players pay a fee to enter a tournament and compete for a high score. Whichever player walks away at the top of the leaderboard does so with a cash prize in their pocket. While WorldWinner insists that the skill-based nature of the completion doesn’t qualify as gambling, those cash-based tournaments aren’t available in 10 U.S. states because of local gambling regulations. 

Other notable game series have made the jump to WorldWinner’s cash-for-play platform including Bejeweled and Tetris, but the company hopes that adding Angry Birds to its roster will help grow its presence on mobile. 

A company representative speaking to Engadget noted that he expects Champions to hit its launch targets this week and that the game will quickly attract thousands of daily players to become the platform’s top-performing game.