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Laid Off Candy Crush Studio Staff Reportedly Replaced by the AI Tools They Helped Build

LONDON, STOCKHOLM, BARCELONA, AND BERLIN, JUL 14 – Microsoft-owned King cut around 200 jobs to streamline management and boost efficiency by using AI tools developed by affected staff, with morale reported at an all-time low.

  • Earlier this month, Microsoft-owned King cut around 200 staff, who sources say are being replaced by AI tools they helped train.
  • An internal memo revealed King acknowledged that the studio had not been growing, prompting plans to simplify the organization and rebalance headcount.
  • Most cuts hit middle management, UX and narrative copywriting at King, with about 50 Farm Heroes Saga roles lost and morale is now “in the gutter”.
  • Now, many developers are in limbo as King’s management plans to present a new org chart in September, with some senior staff on gardening leave, according to company sources.
  • Last week, Microsoft announced a $4 billion AI training initiative, complementing its $80 billion AI investment this fiscal year, amid widespread layoffs and automation efforts.
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According to some sources, the employees fired at King will be replaced by the AI tools they have helped to create.

·Montreal, Canada
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The employees of the Candy Crush studio licensed by Microsoft would have been replaced by the AI tools they built, after spending years helping to create the AI models that replaced them.As part of a recent evolution at Microsoft, the company made major changes at King, the studio that created Candy Crush. According to a report by Mobilegamer.biz, 200 employees of the video game studio would have been laid off, their functions having been replac…

News from HD Technology. Visit www.hd-tecnologia.com for the latest news. King, the company behind the successful Candy Crush, faces a difficult time. Reportedly, the company has recently fired some 200 employees at its Barcelona office, as part of a wider wave of cuts that affected thousands of people within the Xbox ecosystem in July. AI replaces human staff The layoffs were not random. Middle-level managers, level designers and user experienc…

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Mobilegamer.biz broke the news in on Monday, July 14, 2025.
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