In July 2025, anonymous King employees told MobileGamer.biz that AI tools the studio had built were effectively replacing some teams amid reported job cuts. King has not confirmed that account or disclosed how many roles, if any, were directly replaced by AI. In an April 2026 interview, a King executive described AI as support for designers and declined to say whether it had taken on work after the layoffs.
What the July 2025 report alleged
MobileGamer.biz reported on July 14, 2025, that King was preparing to cut around 200 staff. Anonymous sources told the outlet that affected functions included level design, user research, UX, narrative copywriting, centralized research and QA. One source said tools employees had built and trained were “basically replacing the teams”; another said the copywriting team was losing people because it had AI tools. The sources suggested the cuts could exceed 200, but the report did not establish a final count or identify a named employee speaking on the record. MobileGamer.biz’s report
That is an allegation from anonymous sources, not a confirmed Microsoft or King statement that AI replaced specific employees. The available reporting does not establish how many roles, if any, were directly transferred to AI.
What King’s internal memo said about restructuring
Contemporaneous GameDeveloper.com coverage said Bloomberg had first reported around 200 planned redundancies in Barcelona, while MobileGamer.biz described impacts across other offices and functions. GameDeveloper.com reproduced language from King’s internal memo about simplifying the organization, reducing layers and overlapping responsibilities, and unlocking more AI tools. The memo’s quoted wording presented AI investment alongside broader restructuring; it did not say that AI tools would replace specific people losing their jobs. GameDeveloper.com’s coverage
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What King later said about AI in Candy Crush
In an interview published April 15, 2026, King vice president and head of live operations Eva Ryott described AI and automation as tools for identifying levels that may be too difficult or broken, so teams can address issues before release. She said the tools give designers more capacity for creative work and characterized AI as “a supporting tool.” When asked whether AI was running processes previously handled by people, Ryott said, “No, it’s not accurate,” and described designers as still involved in level-management workflows. MobileGamer.biz’s interview with Ryott
Ryott also said the AI-supported workflow helps manage 21,000 Candy Crush Saga levels. That figure is her description in the interview, not an independently audited count. Asked whether AI was making up for a shortfall of 200 staff, she declined to discuss King’s organizational strategy. Her comments describe how the tools support level management; they do not resolve whether any work was reassigned after the layoffs.
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How the two accounts fit together
| Question | July 2025 reporting | April 2026 interview |
|---|---|---|
| Who was speaking? | Anonymous King employee sources quoted by MobileGamer.biz. | King VP and head of live operations Eva Ryott, on the record. |
| What was the claim about? | Sources alleged that AI tools were effectively replacing teams, naming several functions affected by reported cuts. | Ryott described AI-assisted level evaluation and said designers remained involved. |
| What does it establish about staffing? | An anonymous-source allegation and an estimate of planned cuts; not an official count of AI replacements. | Ryott declined to discuss whether AI covered work after the layoffs. |
The accounts address different questions: the 2025 report concerned alleged job impacts, while Ryott’s later explanation concerned the design workflow. Her answer about designers does not confirm or disprove whether responsibilities shifted elsewhere after the cuts.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Keep King’s reported cuts separate from Microsoft’s wider layoffs
The Associated Press reported in July 2025 that Microsoft announced about 9,000 job cuts across the company. AP noted that Microsoft did not give a precise total in its statement and described the cuts as about 4% of the workforce it had a year earlier. Those company-wide figures are separate from the roughly 200 King cuts reported by news outlets; neither figure is a count of AI-replaced roles. Associated Press report on Microsoft’s cuts
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