Everton stars Theo Walcott, Gylfi Sigurðsson and Cenk Tosun have become the first Premier League players to be featured as characters in the Angry Birds ‘Evolution’ game.
The Toffees trio have been given makeovers to become limited edition “extra-rare five-star birds” and will be available to play from Wednesday until August 27 during an exclusive Angry Birds transfer window.
The introduction of three new Blues-themed characters is a first for Rovio Entertainment though the video game and football club have joined forces before.
Angry Birds, Everton’s shirt sleeve sponsor since September 2017, has supported the Merseyside club with a series of cool activities, including a video series featuring the team’s top players on its YouTube channel this summer.
Walcott’s playable character will ‘reflect his lightning speed and attacking skills’, as demonstrated against his former club, Southampton, in Everton’s 2-1 victory last weekend at Goodison Park. Turkey international Tosun’s character will reflect his cultural roots and clinical finishing skills while Icelandic international Sigurdsson’s character will draw upon his physical strength and recognize his Nordic heritage.
Speaking about his Angry Birds makeover, England international Walcott said: “Angry Birds is one of the biggest names in gaming and I am very happy to be one of the first three football players in the world to have my own personalized playable character”.
Tosun added: “It is a great honour for me because I used to play the game when I was younger and even now, I have time when I’m traveling, I try to play the Angry Birds game and it’s fun.
“Everyone knows that Angry Birds is one of the biggest games in the world and I am very proud that Theo, Gylfi and I are the first footballers to be part of the game. I like the design and I think it looks like me. They have drawn on my heritage during the design process.
“I was shocked to be part of this to be honest. So many people play Angry Birds around the world, something like 8 million at any one time and that’s incredible. Some of my family and friends play, too, and it will be a nice feeling that I will be in the game while they are playing.”