Rovio Is Closing Its Copenhagen Studio After Canceling Sonic Blitz

Rovio is closing its Copenhagen studio after canceling Sonic Blitz, the hybrid runner and collectible-card mobile game the studio had been developing since 2025, affecting roughly 20 to 22 employees.

Why Sonic Blitz Got Cut

Sonic Blitz had been in soft launch since May 2025, primarily in Brazil with some testing in the Philippines, and had drawn more than 200,000 downloads. But the game went through four full mechanical overhauls in an attempt to fix player retention, and Rovio CEO Alex Pelletier-Normand said retention simply hadn’t held up, calling it one of the clearest signs the project needed to end. He also pointed to an already crowded field of mobile Sonic games, including Sonic Dash, Sonic Forces Speed Battle, Sonic Rumble Party and Sonic Speed Simulator, saying the competitive landscape turned out more difficult than either Sega or Rovio had anticipated.

A Studio That’s Changed Hands Repeatedly

The Copenhagen studio has cycled through several identities since it was founded in 2012 as Hapti.co, under IO Interactive and Square Enix. Wargaming.net acquired it in 2017 and renamed it Wargaming Copenhagen, and it briefly operated as Darkfire Games in 2020 after its mobile RPG Darkfire Heroes failed to find an audience, before Rovio took it over.

Rovio said it’s trying to reassign affected staff to other internal projects, and that employees who ultimately leave will receive a transition package including outplacement support and wellbeing resources. Pelletier-Normand said the company needs to concentrate its bets on fewer games and fewer locations going forward.

Source: Sonic Stadium, MobileGamer.biz