Angry Birds maker Rovio is opening a game development studio in London, which will focus on massively multiplayer online games that go “beyond the Angry Birds universe”.

“Our business is profitably growing and London is the most logical place for us to found a new studio that will complement our overall global mix of internal and external developers. London is also a fantastically diverse talent magnet,” said Antti Viitanen, SVP Studios for the company.

The London studio joins Rovio’s four other in-house facilities (three in Espoo, Finland and one in Stockholm, Sweden) as well as the company’s global network of external partners.

Rovio has around 400 employees and over the next two years wants to build a team of around 20 in London.

In recent times, Rovio, once the darling of the mobile games market, has seen its position usurped by companies such as Candy Crush-maker King, and Clash of Clans developer Supercell.

Last August, it said its games business is “thriving”, with games revenue up 24 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2016.

However, it has also struggled with job losses as it refocused its activities around games, media and consumer products.

Currently it is preparing to launch Battle Bay, a real-time multiplayer game, while a sequel to the Angry Bird Movie is also being planned.