King, the gaming company behind Candy Crush Saga, is laying off around 200 employees as it shifts more creative work to artificial intelligence tools. The cuts affect staff in multiple offices, including London, Stockholm, Berlin, and Barcelona.
The layoffs mainly target mid-level managers, designers, researchers, and writers—many of whom helped build the AI systems now replacing them. According to employees, entire teams in level design and narrative writing are being downsized because of new AI technologies designed to speed up game development.
“Most of the level design team has been wiped out, which is shocking since they built the very tools that are now replacing them,” said one employee who asked to remain anonymous.
One of the hardest-hit teams is Farm Heroes Saga in London, where about 50 people—nearly half the team—are expected to leave by this fall. Some senior employees have already been placed on leave ahead of their departures.
The layoffs were first reported by Bloomberg and later confirmed by employees speaking to Mobile Gamer Biz. Workers say the decision has left morale at an all-time low. A recent internal survey had already revealed widespread dissatisfaction before the layoffs.
In internal meetings, King leadership said the restructuring is necessary to remove “layers” and speed up production. Executives argued that the company had become too specialized and divided, which slowed progress despite strong profits.
“They told us our success has led to over-specialization, and now they want to merge teams and generalize roles,” one staff member said. “If a resource is centralized, it’s either being cut or moved into production.”
Some employees claim that not all layoff decisions were based on redundancy or performance. Insiders allege that some staff members who raised concerns or criticized company policies were among those dismissed.
King has faced management and HR challenges for years, according to current and former employees. One source described the company’s HR department as focused on protecting the company, not its workers.
A new company-wide reorganization chart is expected in September, following union negotiations. Until then, many employees remain uncertain about their futures.
King is owned by Microsoft through its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Neither King nor Microsoft has publicly commented on the layoffs.
