Rovio Entertainment, the Finnish mobile game company behind 2009’s break-out hit Angry Birds, has announced it will be laying off more than a third of its staff, citing a need to focus on boosting profits after expanding into too many different ventures, including animation series and feature production.
The privately held company currently has a 670-person workforce and will now enter a six-week negotiation period with the goal of cutting about 230 jobs in Finland and 30 more overseas. Rovio plans to continue production games, films and consumer products, but is reviewing its playground business.
The company is now pinning hopes for a turnaround of the declining Angry Birds brand on the theatrical feature, which will open in the U.S. May 20, 2016. “We see growth around the corner, but sadly it comes a little bit too late,” Rovio spokesman Kaisu Karvala told Wall Street Journal.
