A few years ago, you couldn't take two steps without seeing something with the Angry Birds logo plastered on it. The games were mega-successes, prompting the entire gaming industry to look at the business model developer Rovio was using. Angry Birds was a bona-fide juggernaut, and it seemed like nothing would ever stop it. Unfortunately for Rovio, the world is a strange place, and what seemed like a product that the world would never lose interest in was suddenly struggling to remain relevant.
Supposedly sure-fire hits like Angry Birds have floundered before, and it seems the same may be happening to Rovio: the company announced that it would layoff 16 percent of its workers following continued drops in profits.
Back in 2010, no one expected Angry Birds to sell like it did. It was basically a slingshot game; a hundred games like it had already been made. For some reason, Angry Birds just stuck. It seemed like everyone with a smartphone was flinging birds at pigs on the bus, and the game became a multimedia sensation. Angry Birds' dominance lasted for years, though Rovio never felt the need to change its business model, and that may have been what's landed the company in hot water.
By 2012, Angry Birds had lost much of its steam. In its place, free-to-play games like Candy Crush Saga began dominating the market. Yes, Candy Crush was free to download, but if you wanted to progress more quickly or play after losing all your lives, you had to pay. Candy Crush began raking in cash, and other games (with similar pay models) began to do the same. Angry Birds, using a 'pay for it once and you're done' structure, quickly fell behind.
In 2013, Rovio's profits were cut in half. Angry Bird was still everywhere: t-shirts, plush toys, more games than ever and yet it still wasn't helping. Even with a feature film scheduled for 2016, the company simply wasn't making as much money as it used to. Despite hiring roughly 300 people last year, Rovio is cutting over 130 jobs. With any luck, these workers will land on their feet with new jobs soon.
Just because the Angry Birds brand is struggling doesn't mean the product is doomed. Earlier versions of the game have introduced free-to-play mechanics that are very similar to those found in Candy Crush Saga, and interest in the animated film is beginning to grow. The free-to-play market is an incredibly competitive industry, however. Anyone remember Zynga? The Farmville developer failed to match the changing market, and it's stock has dropped by nearly 75 percent over the past few years. Hopefully, Rovio is able to adapt better than Zynga tried to, or Angry Birds won't be around for long.
