Employees are being fired because of the artificial intelligence they developed

Candy Crush developer King is preparing to lay off approximately 200 employees worldwide . According to company insiders, the most striking aspect of the layoffs is that some of these employees were laid off by the very artificial intelligence tools they developed.

Designers, story writers, managers, and researchers working in the company's London, Stockholm, Berlin, and Barcelona offices were the hardest hit by this wave of layoffs . The Farm Heroes Saga team in London, in particular, reportedly suffered significant losses, with approximately 50 people laid off, nearly half the team.

The artificial intelligence we developed fired us

According to employees who spoke on condition of anonymity, the level design and copywriting teams, in particular, had been working on AI -based production tools for a long time. The goal was to add new levels to games more quickly and automate content creation. As a result, it became clear that these tools no longer required that workforce.

"Almost the entire Level Design team is gone. They spent months designing these tools. The copywriting team is also being completely dismantled. Because of the AI tools they developed themselves, those tools are now replacing the teams," the employees said in a statement.

The company's senior management explained the changes as "eliminating slow-moving processes" and "consolidating overly specialized staff." However, insiders say these messages are delivered in a cold, robotic, and empathetic manner, leaving employees feeling insulted.

King, which is owned by Microsoft through Activision Blizzard, hasn't officially commented on these developments yet. However, the unease within the company is reportedly quite significant. An employee satisfaction survey conducted last month revealed that morale was already very low. With the latest developments, this satisfaction has reportedly "hit rock bottom."

The process of artificial intelligence displacing the workforce has impacted the gaming world, as it has many other industries. Considering these developments and company restructurings, it seems we'll be seeing similar news more frequently.