Rovio Entertainment has announced the closure of its Copenhagen development studio following the cancellation of its mobile title Sonic Blitz. The decision marks a significant shift for the Finnish‑based publisher, which had been working to expand its portfolio with a Sonic‑themed offering for smartphones and tablets.
According to a spokesperson speaking to Mobilegamer.biz, the redundancy process is still underway, making it difficult to provide a precise headcount of those affected. Roughly twenty people had been assigned to the Sonic Blitz project, though the exact number of employees who will lose their positions has not been confirmed. The company emphasized that the move was not taken lightly.
"The choice to end our operations in Copenhagen has been incredibly hard," the spokesperson explained. "We fully understand the impact this has on our staff, especially at a time when the wider games industry continues to face considerable challenges." For the team members who cannot be reassigned to another Rovio initiative, the firm pledged a comprehensive transition package. This includes outplacement assistance, career‑coaching services, and wellbeing support designed to help affected employees secure new roles in the industry or elsewhere.
The company said it would work closely with each individual to ensure a smooth and respectful exit process. Rovio's chief executive officer, who also serves as chief operating officer of Sega West, Alexandre Pelletier‑Normand, explained the strategic rationale behind the closure.
"We needed to focus our bets both on the games we develop and the locations where we develop them," he said. "When we first introduced Sonic Blitz into the Sonic brand, we believed it would be a strong addition that could resonate with the franchise's fan base." Pelletier‑Normand continued, "That was the hypothesis.
On paper, the concept looked solid for mobile, but the real test is player retention. Unfortunately, the numbers we saw indicated that users were not staying engaged for the length of time required to make the game viable. Retention is a key metric for any mobile title, and in this case it fell short of expectations." He added, "I still believe there is a path to bringing Sonic to a wider mobile audience, but it turned out to be far more complex than both Sega and Rovio anticipated.
We are still very proud of what the team built, but the project simply didn't work out." Sonic Blitz entered a soft launch phase in 2025, targeting markets in the Philippines and Brazil. After a brief testing period, the title was pulled from those regions last month. Rovio framed the shutdown as part of a "broader change" within the Copenhagen studio, stressing that the decision does not reflect a lack of passion, creativity, or effort from the development team, nor does it diminish the enthusiastic support the community showed during development. The broader context of this move involves Sega's acquisition of Rovio in 2023 for $776 million.
Earlier in the year, Sega disclosed a $200 million impairment charge tied to the acquisition after the combined entity's profitability fell short of the original forecast. Integration challenges have also emerged, particularly around Rovio's Beacon technology, which Sega hoped to leverage across its own mobile portfolio. Sega CEO Haruki Satomi commented on the difficulties, noting that the operational and marketing approaches used by Rovio differ significantly from Sega's established methods.
"New mobile games have yet to fully exploit Beacon," he said, adding that the mismatch has prevented the partnership from delivering the results that were originally projected. The closure of the Copenhagen studio underscores the volatility of the mobile gaming market, where even well‑known IPs such as Sonic can struggle to find a sustainable audience. It also highlights the importance of post‑launch metrics like retention and monetisation in determining a game's long‑term viability.
While Rovio and Sega will continue to explore ways to bring beloved franchises to mobile platforms, the Sonic Blitz experience serves as a reminder that not every experiment will succeed, and that strategic realignment sometimes requires difficult choices such as studio shutdowns and project cancellations. Rovio has indicated that it will continue to support its remaining studios and focus on titles that align more closely with its core strengths. The company remains committed to delivering high‑quality experiences and is exploring new opportunities to innovate within the mobile space, while also learning from the challenges faced during the Sonic Blitz development and launch.
In summary, the Copenhagen studio closure is a direct consequence of the underperformance of Sonic Blitz, a project that, despite its promising concept and the enthusiasm of its creators, failed to achieve the player engagement needed for success. The affected staff will receive assistance to transition to new roles, and Rovio, together with Sega, will reassess its mobile strategy moving forward.