For years, Rovio lived on Angry Birds and nothing else. Then it tried to get you to love Alex. Then it gave the piggies a shot. Finally, Rovio went back to doing what it does best: throwing birds and cashing out. The demand for new games hasn't stopped, though. So what's a mega-giant corporation that's stuck in a creative rut to do? Crowd source, of course. Introducing Rovio Stars.

Rovio Stars is more than a little like the Fox Searchlight for games (but not quite like Steam Greenlight). The company is promising would-be gaming legends "world-class marketing and PR" for developers with great properties, and "expert game teams" to "[turn] your game into a blockbuster."

To get on Rovio's radar, you can apply by sending in screenshots or a gameplay video of your title and a description of what makes it so great. If selected, we assume that a legion of lawyers and Business Types will descend from Finland to propose a contract that you are not prepared to understand much less negotiate, but you'll sign anyway because it's friggin' Rovio.

Meanwhile, deep inside Rovio's tenuously constructed headquarters in Espoo, the folks behind the original game hide, waiting with bated breath for the volley that will bring the house down. Armed with little more than slingshots and an SDK, small-time developers rally to topple the empire Finland built. Rovio Stars aims to assuage the imminent threat via negotiations and trade agreements. It may not be enough, though. For in the game of mobile development, you either win or you die.

(Okay, I'll stop watching Game of Thrones before I write about Angry Birds stuff.)

Source: Rovio