The company behind the hit mobile game Angry Birds has closed its London studio, after warning its profits were likely to fall.<\/p>\n
Rovio’s head of games, Wilhelm Taht, also resigned on Friday, leaving chief executive Kati Levoranta in charge.<\/p>\n
The Finnish games company has warned that its brand licensing revenues could decline 40% this year.<\/p>\n
It has blamed tough competition and higher marketing costs for the poor outlook.<\/p>\n
Rovio’s London studio was opened in 2017 and the company went public in September with a valuation of \u00a3786m.<\/p>\n
But on 22 February, the Finnish games maker issued a profit warning that caused its shares to drop by 50%.<\/p>\n
Announcing the closure of its London studio, Rovio said it wanted to concentrate on its studios in Finland and Sweden.<\/p>\n
The company had employed seven games developers in London.<\/p>\n
Rovio saw rapid growth after it launched Angry Birds in 2009, but it made a significant loss in 2015 and cut a third of its staff.<\/p>\n
In 2016, its Angry Birds movie earned $350 million (\u00a3254m) in cinemas and helped revive sales of the game.<\/p>\n
A sequel is expected in 2019.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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