Angry Birds maker Rovio closed its London game development studio and laid off the seven employees working in it, to focus on studios in Finland and Sweden.

The news comes just a few weeks after Rovio said Q4 2017 was a successful quarter for the company, but noted its 2018 performance “may differ from expectations”.

In a statement the company said: “Rovio decided on a plan that would see its game studio in London closed and the functions of the games business centralised in Espoo and Stockholm.”

When the London studio was originally in the works, Rovio had said it would focus on massively multiplayer online games that go “beyond the Angry Birds universe”. It had also planned to expand the team to 20.

However the company has not been performing well in recent times.

The company expects revenue in 2018 to be €260 million to €300 million, compared with €297 million in 2017 as a whole. The company’s prediction is well below market forecasts of around €337 million.

In a separate statement, it was announced Wilhelm Taht, head of Rovio’s games business unit since 2016, is stepping down “due to personal reasons”.