Candy Crush creators lose jobs to AI tools they helped develop: Report
Dozens of employees at King, the Microsoft-owned gaming company known for the Candy Crush series, are reportedly being laid off as the studio replaces human roles with AI systems that were developed in-house.
A report by MobileGamer.biz reveals that around 50 employees, from the team working on Farm Heroes Saga, are being affected by the downsizing.
Departments such as level design, narrative copywriting, user research and UX are among the hardest hit. Many of those impacted were based in King’s offices across London, Stockholm, Berlin and Barcelona.
According to insiders, the company had spent months building AI tools to speed up content creation, particularly level design and writing. Ironically, these tools are now replacing the teams who contributed to their development. One employee stated that nearly the entire level design team had been let go, despite having created the very systems that now make their roles redundant.
In some cases, team leads and managers have reportedly been placed on "gardening leave," meaning they will continue to be paid and receive benefits while being asked to stay away from work, as a measure to protect confidential information or delay a move to competing companies.
The restructuring may extend beyond the initially reported numbers. Centralized teams in research and QA are also being affected, with the total layoffs potentially crossing 200 employees. Employees cited in the report said leadership appears focused on reducing internal layers and speeding up production by relying more heavily on automation and fewer decision-makers.
Earlier King had issued a statement about using AI to handle repetitive tasks with the intention of freeing up employees for more creative work. The layoffs now suggest a shift toward automation.
King, once part of Activision Blizzard, came under Microsoft's ownership in 2023 as part of a $69 billion acquisition.
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Fire at mass marriage event attended by Dy CM Shivakumar, nobody affected
Raichur (Karnataka) (PTI): Fire broke out near the stage of the mass marriage event that was attended by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar here, police said on Sunday.
Nobody was affected, and the fire was immediately put out, they said.
The fire was noticed shortly after Shivakumar and other dignitaries left the stage, and Forest Minister Eshwaran Khandre was speaking to the media at the venue in Sindhanur, officials said.
According to officials, wires, speakers, and cloth materials near the stage caught fire, allegedly due to a short circuit.
Police personnel present at the spot quickly swung into action and extinguished the fire.
The programme was halted for some time and resumed later, they said.
Several ministers, legislators and political leaders from the region, and actor Sudeep had attended the event.
