Sega’s Rovio Copenhagen studio is being shut down, following the cancellation of its cell sport Sonic Blitz.
Sonic Blitz was a cross between a operating sport and a card-collecting sport, the place gamers would run by means of levels amassing rings earlier than collaborating in team-based tactical battles.
The sport soft-launched in Brazil and the Philippines in June 2025, however in February 2026 Rovio delisted the soft-launched model so it may work on the sport extra.
Final week it was confirmed that the sport was being cancelled completely, and as of August 24 it’s now completely unplayable for individuals who had it downloaded.
Now, as reported by Mobilegamer.biz, the Copenhagen studio that was engaged on the sport is being closed, with employees both being relocated to different Rovio tasks or being laid off.
“Following a redundancy course of, Rovio will discontinue all its operations in Denmark,” Rovio advised the publication. “As a result of the method has not but concluded, we’re not in a position to verify a precise variety of redundancies in the mean time. Altogether, round 20 workers have labored on the now cancelled Sonic Blitz challenge.
“For workforce members who we can not allocate to a brand new challenge inside Rovio, we are going to present a complete transition package deal, together with devoted outplacement companies and wellbeing assist to help them in securing their subsequent profession alternatives.
“The choice to discontinue our operations in Copenhagen has been extraordinarily troublesome. We absolutely acknowledge the impression this has on our workforce, particularly given the continuing challenges throughout the broader video games business.”
In line with Sega West COO and Rovio CEO Alex Pelletier-Normand, the sport’s promoting level was a powerful one, nevertheless it wasn’t being mirrored in participant engagement.
“You’ve got these stunning playing cards and if you happen to flip them you will have the story of that character, when it was launched into the model and we felt that this was an ideal addition and one that would please the Sonic fandom,” he advised the publication.
“That was the speculation. And in cell, it seems to be nice on paper, and you then simply must validate it, and evidently retention hasn’t been actually good for us, which is without doubt one of the first steps. We have to see folks have interaction with the sport for a protracted time period.”
He added: “I nonetheless am satisfied that there’s a solution to attain extra gamers on cell with Sonic, it seems that it’s rather more difficult than I feel each Sega and Rovio thought. We’re nonetheless very pleased with the sport, very pleased with what the workforce achieved, nevertheless it didn’t work.”
Sega not too long ago introduced plans “to enhance Rovio’s enterprise” following poor outcomes
Sega acquired Rovio in August 2023 at a complete price of €706 million, saying it hoped the Offended Birds studio would bolster its personal stay service cell sport portfolio.
Since then, nevertheless, Sega has repeatedly famous in its monetary outcomes that Rovio has been producing much less revenue than it had forecast, stating in November 2025 that its “current mainstay titles have been on a steady downward pattern because the acquisition”.
In February 2026, Sega declared that it recognised roughly ¥31.3 billion (€169 million) of impairment losses “on goodwill and different intangible property” referring to Rovio, which means it at present valued the corporate at €169 million lower than the €706 million worth it acquired it for.
In Might 2026, Sega additionally said that Rovio’s efficiency “remained sluggish”, due partly to “sure titles performing under plan”.
In a administration assembly which passed off in June, Sega said various initiatives it deliberate to hold out “to enhance Rovio’s enterprise”, together with a strengthening of the rollout of Offended Birds 2, a stronger give attention to video games primarily based on Offended Birds and Sonic, and advancing transmedia enlargement of the Offended Birds IP, together with with The Offended Birds Film 3 this December.
These initiatives additionally included “profitability enchancment measures”, nevertheless, together with “disciplined price administration throughout growth studios and back-office features”.
