The boom bust cycle of game development is something that anyone who works in the industry can tell you horror stories about, large layoffs are often commonplace after development sprints and often studio sizes swell, and shrink by the hundreds prior too and after a games release. It is however surprising that after over half a decade of dominance the studio behind the Angry Birds is starting to show signs of flagging. The first blow came when in August of this year it was reported that the studio (based in France) was in a nasty fight with its employees over staff redundancy.  France’s labor laws are quite strict and laying off workers takes time, but now it seems that process has ended. The cuts come as part of a restructuring process that will see Rovio concentrate its efforts around three primary business areas: games, media, and consumer products. This comes as a surprise to some, as recent announcements of Angry Birds the Movie, and millions of downloads for Angry Birds 2 would seems to have invigorated the company.

Job cuts were spread across Rovio’s entire business, with the exception of the team working on the Angry Birds movie in the United States and Canada. For those affected, Rovio said it will “actively provide career support for those made redundant as a result of the reorganization.” Rovio has seen better days. and many industry analysts believe the company may no longer be relevant.

EA has announced today that it will add a free expansion to its cops and robbers battlefield, called Blackout. The announcement comes on the EA blog which says “What happens when the lights go out, and criminal and police factions are forced to face off under the slimmest sliver of light? Find out yourself,” The post goes on to detail what will be in the expansion:

• Two maps: Night Job and Night Woods (night versions of Bank Job and Backwoods)
• 1 new gadget: Night Vision Goggles
• 2 new weapons for all classes and factions: a new version of the RO933 and a new Battle Rifle
• New music, camos, assignments, patches, and more

Blackout will also improve the games spectator mode (because E-sports). Its odd to see this expansion being released for free after the previous two, Criminal Activity and Robbery, were both paid DLC. Its even more odd when you factor in that there are two more announced but as yet un-released DLC’s called Getaway and Betrayal, that are coming in 2016. There is no word yet on the launch date of blackout.