Sega-owned Rovio, greatest recognized for the Indignant Birds franchise, is shutting down its Copenhagen studio following the cancellation of Sonic Blitz.
A Rovio spokesperson confirmed the information to Mobilegamer.biz final week. In a press release, the corporate stated that “following a redundancy course of, Rovio will discontinue all its operations in Denmark.”
In line with the assertion, the method continues to be ongoing, so Rovio hasn’t confirmed a precise variety of redundancies. That being stated, “round 20 workers” labored on the now canceled Sonic Blitz challenge, the spokesperson added.
“For group members who we can’t allocate to a brand new challenge inside Rovio, we are going to present a complete transition bundle, together with devoted outplacement providers and wellbeing assist to help them in securing their subsequent profession alternatives,” the corporate informed Mobilegamer.
The assertion goes on to say that the choice has been “extraordinarily troublesome,” and that Rovio absolutely acknowledges the influence this has on the group, particularly “given the continuing challenges” throughout the broader game industry.
For context, Sonic Blitz was a hybrid runner and card assortment recreation for cellular gadgets. In an interview, Sega West COO and Rovio CEO Alex Pelletier-Normand informed Mobilegamer that retention did not meet expectations, saying that the studio must “see folks have interaction with the sport for a protracted time period.”
Sega accomplished its acquisition of Rovio again in mid August of 2023. The corporate closed down subsidiary Studio Lumi 4 months later, and it shut down its Moomin mobile game in April of 2024. Then, in October of final yr, the corporate laid off 36 employees, saying it was reorganizing internally and “tightening relations” with Sega. Earlier this yr, Sega lamented its failure to make extra from its collaboration with Rovio.
“I nonetheless am satisfied that there’s a approach to attain extra gamers on cellular with Sonic, it seems that it is rather more sophisticated than I believe each Sega and Rovio thought,” Pelletier-Normand informed Mobilegamer. “We’re nonetheless very pleased with the sport, very pleased with what the group achieved, nevertheless it did not work.”
Hi, I’m Rishab. I’m a passionate pc gamer and an avid video game content writer. I have been involved with video games for over 2 decades now, and even today, after playing an astronomical number of games over the years, I’m still eager for more. In my free time, you will find me enjoying a hot cup of coffee and playing my favorite relaxing fishing game, Dave the Diver.
