Rovio cancels Moomin: Puzzle & Design mobile game after two years in soft launch | Pocket Gamer.biz
Rovio has cancelled its Moomin: Puzzle & Design mobile game after more than two years in soft launch.
The title, which featured blast and renovate mechanics, was first released on January 24th, 2022, and was most recently available in the United States, Japan, Poland and Finland.
Development of the title ended on April 11th, 2024. All in-app purchases have been turned off and servers will shut down as of July 8th.
Shutting down
Rovio said players who had made a purchase within the last 30 days prior to disabling monetisation will have a “limited-time offer” to transfer purchases to Angry Birds Dream Blast.
“We have a very high standard for games that we launch globally and despite great efforts from the team, Moomin Puzzle & Design did not reach those,” a Rovio spokesperson told PocketGamer.biz.
According to AppMagic estimates, the title generated $587k in gross player spending and accumulated more than 400k downloads.
IP deal
Rovio first snapped up six-year exclusive rights for Moomin mobile games back in June 2021. At the time, the publisher also invested in Gutsy Animations, the create of the Moominvalley 3D animation series.
The Angry Birds developer was acquired by Sega last year in a €706 million ($775 million) deal. The company now has access to a stable of Sega IP, including Sonic the Hedgehog, as well as its own. The two companies have already begun cross-over events in their existing titles between their respective franchises.
PocketGamer.biz recently visited Rovio’s HQ in Espoo, Finland, and will publish a full interview soon.
