Staff laid off by Microsoft-owned Candy Rush developer King are being replaced by AI tools they helped create, former staff have claimed.
Earlier this month, King cut around 200 staff as part of MobileGamer.biz, many level and UX designers, plus “practically half” of the London-based Farm Heroes Saga team, have also been told they’re at risk.
Notably, it’s claimed that these staff spent the last few years building and training AI tools to do their jobs.
“Most of level design has been wiped, which is crazy since they’ve spent months building tools to craft levels quicker,” one anonymous staffer told the ambition for King was to pivot to an “AI-first company”, after it acquired Swedish AI company Peltarion.
According to media reports, Microsoft’s latest layoffs were influenced, at least in part, by the significant cost of its investment into AI.
Microsoft announced the sweeping layoffs earlier this month, which could amount to over 9000 staff losing their jobs. The publisher’s troubled reboot of Perfect Dark has been cancelled, and The Initiative has been closed.
Rare’s troubled Everwild has also been cancelled, and several senior developers have left the historic studio.
