This month, Microsoft’s gaming division has experienced significant layoffs.

Sources indicate that employees at Candy Crush developer King are being replaced by AI tools.

Reports from MobileGamer.biz said that narrative, UX, level design, user research staff, and copywriters are among those affected.

A source mentioned that the London-based team working on Farm Heroes Saga could reduce its copywriting staff by half.

The trend of using AI to replace roles has reportedly been growing within Microsoft Gaming.

Microsoft has not publicly commented on these claims.

🔗 Source: Engadget

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Gaming’s employment volatility predates AI, but is now accelerating

The King layoffs fit into a long-established pattern of job insecurity in game development, but with a new technological twist.

The gaming industry has historically operated with high turnover rates, with developers frequently experiencing multiple layoffs throughout their careers, creating a culture where job security has been chronically low 1.

Between 2022 and mid-2025, an estimated 35,000 jobs were lost across the industry, showing how widespread these cuts have become before AI even entered the equation 2.

Even successful projects and companies offer limited protection, as the industry’s project-based nature means teams are frequently assembled and disbanded, leaving developers in perpetual uncertainty about their future employment.

The King situation represents a troubling evolution where AI doesn’t just coincide with layoffs but directly replaces specific roles that were previously considered stable creative positions requiring human judgment.

2️⃣ Employee-built AI tools create ethical tension in game development

King employees spent years helping to build and train AI models specifically designed to perform their own jobs more efficiently, only to become victims of that same technology.