Rovio lays off 213 as earnings have slipped

Rovio, the developer behind the once popular Angry Birds mobile video games, has fired a slingshot full of pink slips at a quarter of its employees. As a result, 213 workers who once toiled for Rovio, are gone. At its peak, the Angry Birds reached a level of global popularity normally reserved for rock stars, movie idols and phone blog writers. Images of the birds could be found anywhere, on cereal boxes, underwear, Thermos bottles and Band Aids. Despite a drop off in popularity, earlier this year Angry Birds 2 captured 30 million downloads in two weeks.

But Rovio, which at one time considered itself the next Disney, has lost its focus as it diversified into e-learning and book publishing. The company even opened a theme park in China. A full length Angry Birds movie will be released next May. But taking the Birds in all of these different directions has made it harder for Rovio to focus on what made the franchise successful in the first place.

In 2014, the last full-year that data is available, the company saw its revenues rise 16% to the equivalent of $125.4 million. Consumer product revenue plunged 43%, most likely from over exposure, to $47 million USD. Earnings before interest and taxes declined 73% to $11 million USD.

So with the layoffs, Rovio said that it will now focus on three categories: Games, Consumer Products and Media. The e-learning business is closing, possibly to resurface as part of a new spun-off company, and Rovio says that it will not open any more theme parks or educational playgrounds. The work force now numbers 670.

source: TechCrunch