Angry Birds, the popular smartphone game franchise, is set to enter the physical world after the signing of a deal between developer Rovio and Finnish playground maker Lappset.

"The idea is to create a different concept for gaming by integrating the virtual and physical worlds," said Lappset managing director, Juha Laakkonen.

The first of the Angry Birds-themed play parks are to be developed in Espoo, near Helsinki, Finland, and in the northern Finnish city of Rovaniemi, both of which are expected to be operational in April 2012.

Discussing future plans to bring the activity parks to other venues around the world, Laakkonen said: "We are still in negotiations so we cannot disclose the specific cities, but they will be in America, Asia and Europe."