The advancement of artificial intelligence seems relentless across all industries, and this trend is evident even in gaming. A recent study has shed light on more implications of job cuts within Microsoft’s gaming divisions, specifically affecting King – the creators of Candy Crush. According to unnamed sources, employees claim they are being phased out by AI tools that they themselves have trained.
This document further elaborates on instances where certain employees are facing criticism for expressing their discontent, leading to a significant drop in employee morale following a recent internal assessment. An internal communique within the report seems to hint at the company’s strategy to intensify its use of AI and other strategies to “realign” the workforce numbers.
In reference to our previous discussions, the memo highlighted that we’re implementing numerous adjustments aimed at revitalizing the business. One such change includes enhancing access to a multitude of advanced AI tools. Additionally, we plan to increase our marketing budget for this year.
The memo underscored the significance of streamlining processes, suggesting that leaders are required to restructure their teams to make them leaner in total.
According to a report from Bloomberg published on July 2nd and subsequently confirmed by Mobilegamer.biz, King is planning to reduce its workforce by approximately 10%, which translates to nearly 200 positions being eliminated. This reduction includes around 50 jobs from a London-based team that contributes to the development of another one of their hit games, “Farm Heroes Saga.
It appears that most of the job reductions are primarily impacting areas such as middle management, user experience (UX), and narrative copywriting at King. Interestingly, it’s also been reported that employees from level design and user research departments may be let go because of the implementation of advanced AI technologies.
I can’t believe it, as a gamer and someone who follows game development closely, I’ve heard that most of the level designs have been erased! It’s mind-boggling because they’ve spent months perfecting tools to create levels more efficiently. Now, it seems like those AI tools are taking over, essentially doing the work that our teams were meant to do. The same goes for the copywriting team – they’re phasing out human employees because we have AI tools now that were developed by the very people being replaced.
According to a source, some programmers have been let go due to unspecified reasons which they suspect may stem from their dissatisfaction towards the company or its operations.
In May, King named 12-year company veteran Todd Green as the new president, taking over from Tjodolf Sommestad who had been in the role for three years. Green took up his position in June, expressing enthusiasm about “the great possibilities ahead with our fantastic teams.
During the initial phase, I’ll be visiting all our offices for conversations with numerous colleagues, as we embark on writing the next chapter collaboratively,” Green posted on LinkedIn.
The extra information regarding potential layoffs at King contributes to a growing sense of apprehension about employment opportunities within an industry that’s already grappling with uncertainties over the long-term impact of artificial intelligence.
In the year 2023, Microsoft took over King’s parent company, Activision Blizzard, which now falls under the Microsoft Gaming brand. Recently, Microsoft convened a meeting with developers focused on AI to discuss concerns about “AI tools and methods” following job cuts that affected approximately 9,000 staff members.
The layoffs occurred at the same time the company was boosting its spending on artificial intelligence (AI). Just last week, Microsoft appeared unaffected by criticism of its AI investments as they unveiled a $4 billion plan for AI training.
It appears quite probable that as companies such as Microsoft and King opt for investing in artificial intelligence tools over maintaining employees, many other game developers and publishers might find it hard to resist following suit with this trend in the future.
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2025-07-15 21:13