"Angry Birds maker to cut workforce" Bloomberg News October 03, 2014
HELSINKI — Rovio Entertainment, maker of “Angry Birds” mobile games, will cut up to 16 percent of staff in its first major firings after failing to replicate the success of the title that made it famous.
The closely held company will eliminate as many as 130 jobs in Finland, chief executive Mikael Hed said Thursday. Rovio has about 800 workers worldwide.
Rovio developed one of the biggest early success stories in mobile gaming, only to fall behind rival titles such as “Clash of Clans” and “Candy Crush Saga.” Profit dropped and sales growth slowed as Rovio boosted hiring and newer games like “Amazing Alex” and “Plunder Pirates” fell short of the success of “Angry Birds.”
‘‘We have been building our team on assumptions of faster growth than have materialized,’’ Hed said in a blog post.
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Rovio has sought to avoid the fate of Zynga Inc., which relied on “FarmVille” for much of its revenue. Zynga shares have slid 73 percent since its 2011 initial public offering amid falling sales.
That is strange because the Globe is always crowing about the IPOs.
Did you hear a crash, readers?
Sales at Rovio increased 2.5 percent last year to $197 million. Profit fell 52 percent in 2013 as Rovio hired about 300 people.
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Tyranny comes in the form of stuffed toy.
At least they still have the video game.
