Rovio Entertainment has announced the closure of its Copenhagen development studio, a move that follows the cancellation of its much‑anticipated mobile title, Sonic Blitz. The decision marks a significant shift for the Finnish‑based publisher, which had been hoping to expand its portfolio with a Sonic‑themed experience for smartphones and tablets.
According to a spokesperson speaking to Mobilegamer.biz, the redundancy process is still underway, so the company cannot yet provide an exact headcount for those affected. However, it is known that roughly twenty staff members were directly involved in the Sonic Blitz effort. The spokesperson described the shutdown as "an extremely difficult decision" and acknowledged the broader pressures facing the games industry, which have only intensified over the past few years. For employees who cannot be reassigned to another Rovio project, the company has pledged a comprehensive transition package.
This includes outplacement assistance, dedicated career‑coaching services, and wellbeing support designed to help former team members secure new roles in the sector. The aim is to mitigate the personal impact of the studio's closure and to demonstrate Rovio’s commitment to its people even amid tough business choices.
Alexandre Pelletier‑Normand, who serves as both Rovio’s chief executive officer and the chief operating officer of Sega West, explained the strategic rationale behind the move. He said the company needed to "concentrate our bets both in terms of the games that we're making and where we're making them." In other words, Rovio is refocusing its resources on projects that promise higher returns and better alignment with its core competencies. When Sonic Blitz was first introduced into the Sonic franchise, Pelletier‑Normand believed it could be a strong addition that would resonate with the long‑standing Sonic fan base. "We felt that this was a great addition and one that could please the Sonic fandom," he recalled.
The hypothesis was that a mobile game featuring the iconic blue hedgehog would attract both existing fans and new players looking for quick, accessible gameplay. However, the reality proved more challenging.
While the concept looked promising on paper, the key metric of player retention fell short of expectations. "In mobile, it looks great on paper, and then you just need to validate it, and it seems that retention hasn't been really good for us, which is one of the first steps. We need to see people engage with the game for a long period of time," Pelletier‑Normand explained.
Retention is critical for free‑to‑play titles, as sustained engagement drives in‑app purchases and advertising revenue. Despite the setbacks, Pelletier‑Normand remains convinced that Sonic could eventually find a foothold on mobile platforms. "I still am convinced that there is a way to reach more players on mobile with Sonic, it turns out that it's much more complicated than I think both Sega and Rovio thought," he said. He concluded with a note of pride: "We're still very proud of the game, very proud of what the team achieved, but it didn’t work." Sonic Blitz entered a soft launch phase in 2025, targeting markets in the Philippines and Brazil.
The limited release was intended to gather data on player behavior and refine the experience before a global rollout. Yet, after a few months, the project was terminated, and the game was pulled from those markets last month. Rovio framed the shutdown as part of a "broader change" within the Copenhagen studio, emphasizing that the decision does not reflect a lack of passion, creativity, or effort from the development team.
"We want to be clear that this decision is not a reflection of the passion, creativity or effort that went into making Sonic Blitz, nor the amazing support we received from our community throughout the development of the game," the developer said in an official statement. The background to this situation includes Sega's acquisition of Rovio in 2023 for $776 million. Earlier this year, Sega disclosed a $200 million impairment charge related to the acquisition, citing lower‑than‑expected profitability. The company also reported difficulties integrating Rovio's Beacon technology—a location‑based service—into its own mobile titles.
Sega CEO Haruki Satomi remarked that the operational and marketing approaches of Rovio differed significantly from Sega's existing practices, and that the Beacon platform had yet to be fully leveraged in new mobile games. "We found that the operational and marketing methods and approaches significantly differ from Rovio titles and new mobile games are yet to fully exploit Beacon," Satomi said.
"Consequently, we have unfortunately not achieved the level of results that had been expected prior to the acquisition." In summary, the closure of Rovio's Copenhagen studio underscores the challenges of navigating a rapidly evolving mobile market, especially when attempting to adapt a legacy console franchise like Sonic for a new audience. While the company remains proud of the creative work done by its team, the commercial realities of player retention and monetization ultimately dictated the project's fate.
Moving forward, Rovio has signaled a tighter focus on its core strengths and a more cautious approach to expanding into mobile ventures, while continuing to support affected staff through transition assistance and wellbeing resources.