Rovio targets China, opening 9 Angry Birds theme parks by 2018

Rovio is pushing the offline side of its popular — but sagging — Angry Birds franchise in China, looking to take advantage of the country’s booming obsession with mobile gaming.

The Finnish developer behind the slingshot gaming series is bringing nine “family entertainment centers” to China over the next four years, starting in the eastern Anhui province. The announcement comes just one month after Rovio said it planned to cut up to 130 jobs in Finland as part of its move to “simplify our organization.” But with China’s mobile gaming market expected to grow 93 percent to $2.9 billion in 2014, and hit $7.7 billion by 2018, Rovio is looking east to help reignite its growth.