Rovio Entertainment has announced the closure of its Copenhagen development studio following the cancellation of the mobile title Sonic Blitz. The decision, which was communicated through a company spokesperson, marks a significant shift for the Finnish game maker, which had been investing resources in the project for the past several years. According to the spokesperson, the redundancy process is still underway, and while the exact headcount cannot be disclosed at this stage, it is known that roughly twenty people were directly involved in the Sonic Blitz effort.
"The choice to end our operations in Copenhagen was an incredibly tough one," the spokesperson explained. "We are fully aware of the impact this has on our colleagues, especially given the ongoing difficulties the wider games industry is facing." For those team members who cannot be reassigned to another Rovio initiative, the company has pledged a thorough transition package. This includes outplacement assistance, career counseling, and wellbeing support designed to help affected staff secure new employment opportunities.
The aim is to smooth the transition for employees who will be leaving the company as a result of the studio shutdown. Rovio’s chief executive officer, who also serves as chief operating officer for Sega West, Alexandre Pelletier‑Normand, provided additional context for 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 tightening its focus on projects that promise stronger returns and aligning development locations with strategic priorities.
When Sonic Blitz was first introduced into the Sonic franchise, Pelletier‑Normand believed it could be a valuable addition that would resonate with the long‑standing Sonic fan base. "We felt this could be a great addition and one that could please the Sonic fandom," he said. The hypothesis was that a mobile game featuring the iconic hedgehog would attract both existing fans and new players looking for a quick, engaging experience on their phones. However, the reality proved more challenging.
"On paper the concept looked solid, but in mobile gaming you have to validate it with real‑world data," Pelletier‑Normand noted. The key metric that fell short was player retention – the ability to keep users engaged over an extended period. "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," he explained. Despite the disappointment, Pelletier‑Normand remains convinced that there is potential for Sonic 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. "We're still very proud of the game, very proud of what the team achieved, but it didn’t work." Sonic Blitz had a limited soft launch in 2025, targeting markets in the Philippines and Brazil. After gathering early performance data, the decision was made to pull the title in the following month.
Rovio framed the shutdown as part of a "broader change" within the studio, emphasizing that the move does not reflect a lack of passion, creativity, or effort from the development team, nor does it diminish the strong community support the game received during its development phase. The broader context of this closure 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.
Integration challenges have also emerged, particularly around Rovio’s Beacon technology, which Sega hoped to incorporate into its own mobile portfolio. Sega’s chief executive, Haruki Satomi, admitted that operational and marketing approaches differ significantly between the two companies, and that the Beacon system has yet to be fully leveraged in new mobile titles.
"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." The closure of the Copenhagen studio underscores the volatile nature of the mobile gaming market, where even well‑known IPs like Sonic can struggle to gain traction without a compelling retention strategy.
For Rovio, the experience serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of aligning brand extensions with realistic market expectations and ensuring that development resources are allocated to projects with clear, sustainable revenue pathways. As the redundancy process continues, affected employees will receive the promised support packages, while Rovio signals its intention to refocus on core franchises and projects that promise stronger engagement and financial performance.
The company’s future roadmap remains centered on leveraging its existing intellectual property portfolio, optimizing existing titles, and exploring new opportunities that align more closely with its strategic objectives and the evolving preferences of mobile gamers worldwide.