Report: Habbo Parent Sulake Lays Off 40

Finnish developer Sulake, creator of popular social virtual world Habbo, will lay off about 40 staffers, according to media reports. The company will engage in redundancy negotiations with the affected workers, who represent about 20 percent of its global staff, reports PaidContent, citing Finnish media and Twitter users claiming the reductions are centered in Helsinki. Sulake, which employs about 300 staff across 13 countries, claims about 12 million monthly uniques worldwide for the 'tween-friendly Habbo. In 2008, it reported €50 million ($73.6 million) in revenue for the year, but profits of €1 million ($1.5 million). The company also operates Finnish social networking company IRC-Galleria, and recently launched Bobba, a virtual world for smartphones, a version of which it hopes to bring to PC, aimed at an older demographic than Habbo. Gamasutra has contacted Sulake for comment and will update with any details we receive.