Rovio Entertainment has announced the closure of its Copenhagen development studio, a decision that follows the recent cancellation of its mobile title, Sonic Blitz. The company confirmed that the shutdown is part of a larger restructuring effort aimed at refocusing resources on projects with stronger commercial prospects.
According to a spokesperson speaking to Mobilegamer.biz, the redundancy process is still underway, making it difficult to provide an exact headcount of employees affected. Roughly twenty staff members had been dedicated to the Sonic Blitz initiative, working on everything from game design to art production and quality assurance.
"The choice to end our operations in Copenhagen has been incredibly hard for us," the spokesperson explained. "We are fully aware of the personal and professional impact this has on our colleagues, especially given the ongoing volatility in the wider games industry." For those team members who cannot be reassigned to another Rovio project, the company said it will offer a comprehensive transition package.
This includes outplacement assistance, career counseling, and wellbeing support designed to help former employees secure new roles in the sector or elsewhere. Rovio's chief executive officer, who also serves as chief operating officer for Sega West, Alexandre Pelletier‑Normand, elaborated on the strategic rationale behind the move.
He noted that the firm needed to "concentrate our bets both in terms of the games that we're making and where we're making them," emphasizing that resources must be allocated to titles with clear paths to profitability. When Sonic Blitz was first introduced into the Sonic brand portfolio, Pelletier‑Normand believed it could serve as a strong addition that would resonate with the long‑standing Sonic fan base. "We thought it would be a great fit and could delight the community," he said. "That was the hypothesis.
On paper, the concept looked solid, but in mobile gaming the real test is player retention. Unfortunately, we didn't see the level of sustained engagement we needed." Retention, he explained, is a critical early indicator of a mobile game's health. If players do not continue to return over an extended period, monetisation and long‑term growth become impossible.
"We need to see people engage with the game for a long period of time," Pelletier‑Normand added, underscoring why the project was ultimately deemed unviable. Despite the disappointment, the executive remains convinced that Sonic can find a successful foothold on mobile platforms. "I still believe there is a way to reach more players on mobile with Sonic, but it turns out to be far more complicated than Sega and Rovio anticipated," he said. "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.
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 or the community that supported the game throughout its development.
The broader context of this move involves Sega's acquisition of Rovio in 2023 for $776 million. Earlier this year, Sega disclosed a $200 million impairment charge related to the purchase, citing lower‑than‑expected profitability.
The company also reported difficulties integrating Rovio's Beacon technology—a location‑based service—into its existing mobile portfolio. Sega CEO Haruki Satomi commented on the challenges, noting that the operational and marketing approaches of Rovio differ significantly from Sega's established practices. "New mobile games are yet to fully exploit Beacon," he said, adding that the anticipated synergies have not materialised, which contributed to the shortfall in expected results. In summary, Rovio's Copenhagen studio closure reflects a strategic pivot prompted by the underperformance of Sonic Blitz and broader integration hurdles following Sega's acquisition.
While the decision inevitably affects around twenty employees directly involved with the project, the company has pledged support to ease their transition. The episode also highlights the complexities of adapting a legacy console franchise like Sonic to the mobile market, where player retention and monetisation dynamics can differ dramatically from traditional gaming models.
Looking ahead, both Rovio and Sega are expected to concentrate on titles that align more closely with their core competencies and market expectations, seeking to restore growth and profitability after a challenging fiscal period.