Supercell has cut staff across its North American operations and canceled at least one in-development project, according to reporting by MobileGamer that cites posts from affected employees on social media. The reductions coincide with a separate restructuring at Metacore, the Helsinki-based Merge Mansion developer set to become a Supercell subsidiary, which has shed 159 employees in Finland and closed offices in Germany and Sweden.

What does the MobileGamer report say?

The North American cuts have been underway since late last year, according to MobileGamer. Steve Desilets, co-founder of one of Supercell's US branches, confirmed his own departure on LinkedIn, writing that Supercell had decided to cancel the game his studio was working on and disband the project team. Other affected specialists are reportedly finishing their final weeks at the company. Whether the cancellation will lead to a full closure of that branch remains unclear.

Supercell has declined to comment publicly. MobileGamer said it reached out to the company but had not received a response at the time of publication.

How severe is the Metacore restructuring?

Metacore, which agreed to be acquired by Supercell in May, has executed what amounts to a near-total reset of its operations. The studio closed offices in Germany and Sweden over the weekend and eliminated 159 roles in Finland — the majority of Metacore's workforce, though the company has not disclosed its headcount prior to the cuts.

The redundancies arrive just before the acquisition is set to formally close. Supercell announced its intent to purchase the Merge Mansion creator in May, but the transaction has not yet been finalized, leaving a window in which Metacore's downsizing decisions appear to have been made by the existing leadership rather than the prospective parent.

How big is Supercell's North American footprint?

Supercell has historically operated its North American studios as satellite teams, with US branches typically working on individual projects rather than running live services independently. The cancellation reported by Desilets points to a development project being wound down rather than an established live game, which suggests the cuts are tied to portfolio rationalization. Supercell has not indicated whether the affected US teams will be redeployed to existing live titles or shut down entirely.

What changes for the affected teams?

For Desilets and the other laid-off staff, the immediate operational reality is a transition out of Supercell. Project-team disbandment, as opposed to redeployment to a live game, typically means severance packages and outplacement support rather than internal reassignment. The choice to cancel rather than continue development indicates the title had not reached a stage where it could be salvaged under a reduced budget.

For Metacore, the 159 redundancies in Finland — combined with the Germany and Sweden closures — leave a much smaller studio to fold into Supercell once the deal closes. The composition of the surviving Metacore team, and whether its Merge Mansion live operations remain based in Helsinki, will be signals worth watching.

What comes next?

The Metacore acquisition still requires closing steps, and the future of Supercell's affected North American branches remains an open question. Watch for any disclosure from the publisher, additional LinkedIn posts from laid-off staff that clarify the scale of the US cuts, and whether the Metacore deal closes on its originally communicated terms. The cancellation of an unannounced project also raises the question of how aggressively Supercell intends to invest in new mobile titles under a thinner North American footprint.