Angry Bird maker to lay off over one third of employees

Finnish gaming company Rovio, maker of Angry Birds, on Wednesday announced its restructuring plan, which will result in massive layoffs.

After the reorganization, Rovio will focus on its three key business sectors including gaming, media and consumer products, said the company in a press release.

The plan will result in major job cuts of up to 260 employees, accounting to more than one third of the company's staff. Rovio currently employs 670 workers, most of whom are working in Finland.

The company said that the collective negotiations will affect its whole organization. The employees working on the production of the Angry Birds Movie in the United States and Canada are not included.

Rovio's difficulties are caused by its poor profitability in recent years, largely due to a setback in its peripheral business.

The downturn of the company started in 2013, and its operation deteriorated further in 2014 with operating profit dropping dramatically by 73 percent, from 36.5 million euros (41.61 million U.S. dollars) in 2013 to 10 million euros.

The profit was dragged down mainly by the decline of sales in consumer by-products, which was almost halved from 73.1 million euros in 2013 to 41.4 million in 2014.

Founded in 2003, Rovio is game developer and entertainment company based in Espoo, southern Finland. The company grew rapidly after launching the "Angry Birds" game at the end of 2009. (1 euro = 1.14 U.S. dollars) Endit