Angry Birds (video game) was being played, the staff liked the characters, and the team elected to design a game around them. In early 2009, physics games, such as "Crush the Castle", were popular flash-based web games, so the Rovio team was inspired by these games. During the development of "Angry Birds", the staff realized the birds needed an enemy. At the time, the "swine flu" epidemic was in the news, so the staff made the birds' enemies pigs. Angry Birds was the studio's 52nd produced game and on its initial release, the game did not sell many copies. After Angry Birds was a
Angry Birds Birds", and regularly plays other NBA stars in matches, although he is weary of cheating. In August 2011, the Milwaukee Brewers played the "Angry Birds" theme song during the pre-game introductions of the arch-rival St. Louis Cardinals players, in reference to former Cardinals' manager Tony LaRussa's propensity to bean opposing players. "Angry Birds" also appears briefly, for comic relief, during a scene in the 2013 film "", in which Zartan plays the game while waiting for the world leaders' response to his threats of annihilation. Angry Birds were featured in the 2013 Helsinki episode of Veep. Angry Birds was referenced