Various employees working on "Candy Crush" are being laid off by its parent studio, King, and are set to be replaced with the AI tools that they helped develop, according to the latest reports.
The company is also known as Activision Blizzard King, which has been recently acquired by Microsoft, and is now favoring the use of artificial intelligence in their workflow.
Other game projects under King are also on the verge of losing their staff, who may also be replaced by AI tools.
'Candy Crush's' King Lays Off Employees In Favor of AI
According to a new report by MobileGamer.biz, the team and studio behind "Candy Crush Saga," King, is now looking towards laying off their human staff in favor of deploying AI tools. It was revealed in the report that these AI models were trained to do an improved job and be quicker compared to their human counterparts, hence the swap.
The latest restructuring follows a recent round of layoffs that Microsoft effected on its gaming division, issuing company-wide job cuts that are speculated to reach more than 200.
According to the report, several narrative, level design, user research, and UX staff over at King were responsible for developing the AI tools that will replace them, with their jobs currently in danger.
Alongside this, it was also revealed by the report that a part of the London-based team behind "Farm Heroes Saga," particularly their copywriters, may also be part of the layoffs.
An unnamed source claimed that the company allegedly is focusing on achieving a higher rate of efficiency and profits with this move. Developers also recently voiced out their grievances against Microsoft for prioritizing machine learning technology in their jobs instead of humans, replacing as many jobs as it can with AI agents (via Engadget).
AI Replacing Humans Who Helped Develop the Tech
The irony in this latest decision by King is that the staffers whose positions or roles in the company are in danger of being replaced by AI are the same ones who helped develop the technology. It was revealed that these people have spent years creating these AI tools for the company, unknowingly developing the technology that would soon replace them in their roles.
While the layoffs have yet to happen, insiders are claiming that this is the direction that the company is taking.
Other sources claim that it is "crazy to remove the developers themselves" if the company plans to introduce more "feedback loops." The source claims that the team needs more "hands," pertaining to human workers, than leadership.
That being said, the fate of these staffers over at "Candy Crush Saga's" studio remains unconfirmed as of press time.
