Angry Birds creator unveils new game

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ESPOO, Finland, July 12 (UPI) -- The Finnish company behind the popular Angry Birds game has released its new offering, Amazing Alex, in hopes of creating another games franchise, analysts say.

The physics-based game released Thursday -- in which players manipulate objects to bounce, jump, ricochet, fall and collide with each other to achieve a goal -- is available on iPhone, iPad and Android and will also come to PCs, Macs and Windows Phones, techcrunch.com reported Thursday.

Rovio's Angry Birds has become a franchise, downloaded more than 1 billion times, which has seen the Finnish game maker expand into toys, board games, playground sets and various other products, with an animated Angry Birds movie in the works.

Rovio is likely hoping for a new games franchise with Amazing Alex and an additional justification for its potential $9 billion IPO next year, techcrunch's Mike Butcher said.

Rovio reported 2011 profits of $48 million before tax, up from $10 million in 2010.