Even though Rovio hasn’t created a successful franchise since the original Angry Birds in 2009, the second numbered entry in the franchise, Angry Birds 2, has been met with both critical and commercial success.
These layoffs are also due to restructuring efforts after the CEO, Mikael Hed, left the company last year. Rovio is refocusing the company only on “gaming, media, and consumer products”. All other enterprises are either being discontinued or defunded - including their learning initiative, Angry Birds Playground, which was Finnish educational concept exported to China and Singapore that allowed kids to learn in a fun environment.
The relatively new CEO of Rovio, Pekka Rentala, explained the layoffs:
This coming May, Rovio is releasing Angry Birds 3D, a wide release movie which the company hopes will be a huge success and produce a renewed interest in their only profitable franchise.
