Media: Many Laid-off Employees at King Will Be Replaced by AI Tools They Created
The MobileGamer portal has obtained details about the layoffs at King, which are part of the major reductions at Microsoft. To gather this information, they spoke with sources close to the company.
Farm Heroes Saga
- Previously, Bloomberg reported that King would lay off 10% of its staff, or 200 people. MobileGamer sources suggested that the number affected could be higher. It is known that employees at offices in London, Barcelona, Stockholm, and Berlin will be hit.
- King will part with several mid-level managers, narrative designers, UX designers, level designers, testers, and analysts. Additionally, half of the London team working on Farm Heroes Saga, totaling 50 employees, will be let go.
- The company is currently negotiating with the union. Some employees have been temporarily suspended from work but are still receiving their salaries. The layoffs are expected to be completed by September.
- Many of those being laid off, including level designers and narrative designers, have spent the last few years creating and refining AI tools tailored to their needs. Now, these tools are essentially set to replace them.
- Rumors within the company suggest that some employees are being laid off for openly criticizing King. However, the primary aim of the layoffs is to streamline the management structure. King has many positions performing similar tasks, which hinders operations.
- King has struggled with staff attrition for many years: turnover is low but constant. An internal survey conducted shortly before the layoff announcements revealed that employee morale was already very low, and now it is at an all-time low.