Angry Birds Star Wars II

Lore & Background

Angry Birds Star Wars II was revealed by Rovio on July 15, 2013, and released worldwide on September 18, 2013. It is based on the Star Wars prequel trilogy and includes over 30 characters from the films, with levels set in locations such as Naboo and Tatooine. The game is the first main entry in the Angry Birds series to allow players to play as the pigs, who represent Sith characters (the 'Pork Side') such as Jango Fett, Darth Maul, and Darth Sidious. These pigs have unique abilities activated by tapping the touchscreen, identical in function to the birds. Characters from the original trilogy also appear, including Boba Fett, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Yoda, and Stormtroopers. Virtual currency can be earned through achievements and spent on additional characters.

Reader's Guide

Angry Birds Star Wars II is significant as the first Angry Birds game to introduce toys-to-life functionality through Telepods, a line of figures by Hasbro that could be 'teleported' into the game via QR codes. The game received a generally positive critical response, with a Metacritic average of 77 out of 100. Critics praised the incorporation of the Star Wars license and the new Jedi abilities, which made gameplay diverse and interesting. Highlights included pod racing sequences and the Jar Jar Binks bird. However, some critics noted a significant decrease in difficulty compared to other Angry Birds games, with most levels beatable in just over an hour. The core formula was seen as largely unchanged, leading some to criticize Rovio for playing it safe. The Telepods system was criticized by some as turning the game into a toy commercial. The game was nominated for Favorite App Game at the 2014 Kids' Choice Awards.

Did You Know?

• Angry Birds Star Wars II is the first main entry in the Angry Birds series where the player can play as the pigs.
• The game introduced Telepods, a toys-to-life line by Hasbro that uses QR codes to teleport figures into the game.
• Additional content was added post-launch, including the 'Rise of the Clones' update on May 28, 2014, and the 'Revenge of the Pork' update on December 3, 2014.
• The game received a 4.5 out of 5 score from TouchArcade and a 4 out of 5 from The Guardian.

From Patch to Full Franchise Collaboration

During the production cycle for Angry Birds Space, Rovio's team began testing the waters with extra levels inspired by science fiction properties. What started as a small experimental add-on quickly grew into something far more ambitious. Andrew Stalbow, who oversaw strategic partnerships at Rovio, personally reached out to Lucasfilm—the studio's top pick for a major collaboration. Ville Heijari, the company's vice president for franchise development, echoed this sentiment, viewing a Star Wars tie-in as the most natural fit among potential partners. The project escalated from a simple patch into a standalone title. Not everyone was enthusiastic internally; series creator Jaakko Iisalo initially resisted, feeling his team had already produced the finest Angry Birds game possible and preferring to move on to fresh projects. He was eventually persuaded to commit to one final entry. The team set an ambitious goal: making the launch feel like one of the year's biggest entertainment events. Composer Salla Hakkola was granted full creative latitude to build around John Williams' existing score, and promotional merchandise ranged from plush toys to a Jenga set shaped like a pig-headed Death Star.

Reimagining the Slingshot Through a Galactic Lens

The core loop remains familiar to any Angry Birds veteran: load a bird into a slingshot and hurl it at a cluster of pigs. What sets this entry apart is the galaxy-spanning skin wrapped around that formula. Levels are set in iconic locations from the original trilogy—Tatooine's desert, the Death Star's corridors, Dagobah's swamp, Hoth's ice fields, and Cloud City's floating platforms—while gravitational mechanics borrowed from Angry Birds Space add a layer of physics variety. Each playable bird is mapped to a specific Star Wars figure with a matching ability: the red bird channels Luke Skywalker's lightsaber, the yellow bird fires Han Solo's blaster, and the black bird wields Obi-Wan Kenobi's command of the Force. Supporting cast members like Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, Leia Organa, Palpatine, and Yoda round out the roster. The player can also summon the Mighty Falcon, a Millennium Falcon-inspired projectile. On the enemy side, Stormtrooper-helmeted pigs return blaster fire, TIE fighters patrol space levels, and Darth Vader hurls objects with the Force. Scattered hidden eggs unlock bonus stages where C-3PO shatters into smaller pieces and R2-D2 discharges an electrical shock. Console editions layer on exclusive levels, multiplayer, high-definition visuals, achievement tracking, and Kinect support.

A Global Launch and a Pricing Flashpoint

The title hit mobile and PC platforms—Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, OS X, Windows, and Windows Phone—on November 8, 2012. A full year later, Activision brought the experience to living rooms, releasing it on October 29, 2013 for Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Wii, Wii U, and Xbox 360, with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One following the same day in North America and November 1 globally. The pricing split became a sore point: console copies carried a US$49.99 tag while the mobile download cost just US$2.99, a disparity that drew public criticism. Despite the controversy, the mobile version quietly became a commercial juggernaut, crossing the 100-million-download mark by 2013. Post-launch, Rovio kept the title alive with content drops: a June 13, 2013 update introduced Cloud City stages starring Lando Calrissian, and a December 17 update added a second Death Star gauntlet culminating in a dual boss fight against Darth Vader and Palpatine. The game was pulled from app stores in 2019, and in a 2021 developer update, brand director Steve Porter indicated a re-release was unlikely because of the complications of third-party licensing.

Praise on Phones, Pushback on Consoles

Critics on mobile were largely enthusiastic. Metacritic tallied a weighted average of 88 out of 100 across 22 reviews, labeling the reception generally favourable. Mark Brown of Pocket Gamer awarded a Gold badge and 9/10, singling out the game's fidelity to the source material and its depth of content. Justin Davis at IGN highlighted the character roster and level design, while Eric Ford of TouchArcade called it his personal favourite in the Angry Birds line and a must-play for iPhone users. Andrew Reiner at Game Informer declared its stages the most creative the series had produced to that point. The console ports, however, drew a noticeably cooler response. Martin Watts of Nintendo Life scored the Wii U build 6/10, praising its faithfulness but dismissing the multiplayer as an underwhelming affair. Push Square's Katy Ellis felt the PlayStation 3 version was awkwardly out of place on a home system, and fellow writer Simon Fitzgerald labeled the PlayStation 4 port a clone, grumbling about the $49.99 price and finding the DualShock 4 touchpad control too sensitive. OpenCritic's aggregate of 49 percent underscores how sharply the two audiences diverged.