Mobile game studio Rovio has entered into a strategic partnership with Chinese game developer Kunlun, with the aim of collaborating to produce Angry Birds games developed specifically for the Chinese market.

Despite the success of its Angry Birds franchise, Rovio has struggled to produce new properties and has recently cut 110 jobs, around 14 per cent of its workforce, due to over-expansion into other media.

The deal with Kunlun will see the Chinese company operate the games in conjunction with Rovio in China, and marks the first time Rovio has worked with a Chinese developer to make Angry Birds games tailored to the Asian market.

“China is a massively important market and the mobile games industry is growing at a very significant pace,” said Pekka Rantala, CEO of Rovio. “Angry Birds has been downloaded close to half a billion times in China. Forming a strategic partnership with Kunlun is an important step that helps Rovio establish an even stronger presence in Chinas game market with localised content.”

“I am one of the billions of Angry Birds fans around the world,” said Yahui Zhou, CEO of Kunlun. “We are delighted to work with Rovio. Working with Rovio will allow us to increase the reach of our games.”