In spite of the success of Angry Birds 2 (almost 50 million downloads inside the first month), Rovio has announced that up to 260 positions across the company are being cut back. The redundancies are a result of Rovio focusing their attention to three main areas of business - games, media and consumer products.
"While we have gathered good momentum this year, especially with the launch of the Angry Birds 2 game -- downloaded nearly 50 million times in its first month of release -- fundamental changes are needed to ensure Rovio succeeds in its global ambitions to be the leading entertainment company with mobile games at its heart," says Rovio's CEO Pekka Rantala. "This is personally a difficult decision. However, it is certain that a leaner and more agile Rovio is absolutely necessary to move forward and take the company to new successes in the future. We will work with and support all our employees through this period of change."
"Rovio's growth and eagerness to explore new business opportunities over the past few years has been exceptional," Rantala adds. "As a result, we did too many things. In our current financial condition we must now put focus on where we are at our best: in creating magnificent gaming experiences, in producing an amazing animation movie and in delighting our fans with great products."
The press release also noted that staff in the United States and Canada involved with the production of Angry Birds The Movie are unaffected and Rovio Stockholm (studio behind Angry Birds 2) general manager Oskar Burman also tweeted that the studio was unaffected by this.
As always our thoughts go out to those who have been made redundant and we wish for a speedy recovery.