Rovio is laying off 36 staff, restructuring its studios and making changes to its management structure, we can confirm.
The moves are related to Angry Birds Dream Blast’s recent underperformance and a continued effort to integrate into new parent company Sega, a Rovio spokesperson told us.
On top of the layoffs, Rovio’s puzzle studio in Finland will be “focusing on fewer games”, while Rovio’s Barcelona studio will be taking on more work on new and existing titles. We’re told the layoffs include some senior staff on Angry Birds Dream Blast, but Rovio did not confirm those details.
Industry chatter also suggested that Rovio CEO Alexandre Pelletier-Normand had relocated from Finland to London. The Angry Birds maker said that there have been some changes to the company’s management structure, and that the Rovio CEO is spending more time at different Rovio offices and at Sega Europe HQ as it integrates into its new parent company.
“No games have been cancelled but Angry Birds Dream Blast has unfortunately not been performing as expected,” a Rovio spokesperson told us.
“We have been renewing our organisation this autumn in reaction to one of our games underperforming and in order to better respond to the market, to move towards a more game-centric approach, and to be able to iterate fast on new game ideas.”
The spokesperson continued: “We are creating new business units, reorganising some of our game studios and reallocating some of the games developed in them. For example, Puzzle studio in Finland will be focusing on fewer games as some of their games become an independent business unit and our Barcelona office will cater to more games than it has done, so far.”
“We are also making some changes in our management structure to reflect our role as a non-listed company, as well as tightening our relations with SEGA. With this our CEO is spending more time around our different Rovio locations and at the SEGA of Europe office.”
“These changes resulted in changes in some roles, the creation of several new roles and a total of 36 employees being made redundant.”
Sega announced it would be acquiring Rovio in April 2023, shortly after Playtika launched a public bid to acquire Rovio in January of that year.
