Rovio, the Finnish game maker that let the Angry Birds loose on the world, could go public as early as 2012. That’s what Rovio Chief Marketing Officer Peter Vesterbacka told Bloomberg.

These birds are nothing short of a pop culture phenom with numerous games, plush toys and even a movie deal in the works. The game concept couldn’t be more simple: The player uses a slingshot to hurl birds at pigs who stole their eggs. That might not seem like the foundation for an empire with an estimated value of around $1 billion but it has been so far.

Virtual worlds are luring a myriad of people hungry for living virtual lives that run parallel to their real lives. Virtual worlds are an industry by themselves with spectacular growth prospects, and many investors have already taken note. A prominent media firm, Virtual Worlds Management, which keeps track of the virtual worlds industry, has revealed that investors poured in $425 million into virtual worlds in the fourth quarter of 2007.