Rovio is restructuring and making changes to management that will result in laying off 36 employees, according to MobileGamer.
The changes are being done following Angry Birds Dream Blast not meeting expectations and due to its integration with parent company Sega. The layoffs include some of the senior staff on Angry Birds Dream Blast.
Alongside the layoffs, Rovio’s puzzle studio in Finland will be “focusing on fewer games” and Rovio’s Barcelona studio will be taking on more work on new and current games.
“No games have been cancelled but Angry Birds Dream Blast has unfortunately not been performing as expected,” said a Rovio spokesperson.
“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.
“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.”
A life-long and avid gamer, William D’Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
Full Article – https://www.vgchartz.com/article/466055/angry-birds-developer-rovio-laying-off-36-staff/
