According to Mobilelegamer, several sources of information revealed that King, a well-known developer of the Candy Legend game, was experiencing considerable internal unrest as he was preparing to downsize some 200 employees. The central point of controversy about this reduction is that many of the people who have been laid off are those who built and trained the AI tools that now replace them.
It is reported that the Farm Heroes Development Team in London will be “cut off” and some 50 people will leave, including some core leadership members. In addition, a large number of level designers, user researchers and UX (user experience) and narrative filers have been informed of the risk of unemployment. It is precisely these staff members who have devoted their efforts over the past few years to developing an AI tool designed to enhance the efficiency of their work.
“Most of the level design teams were cleared, which is crazy, because they spent months building tools to speed up the level,” one of the employees said, “Now these AI tools basically replace the whole team. In the same vein, the authorship team is retrenching people because we have the AI tools that these people themselves have created.” The employee lamented: “The replacement of human beings by an AI tool is absolutely outrageous, but it is all about efficiency and profit, despite the company’s overall good performance. If we are introducing more feedback loops, then cutting the developers themselves is crazy and we need more executives than management. “The source suggests that the number of eventual layoffs may exceed 200. In addition to the London, Barcelona, Stockholm and Berlin studios, many of the central functional staff (including the research and QA quality assurance sections) will be abolished or integrated into the production team. King ‘ s management has informed staff that, following consultations with union and office staff, a new organizational chart will be published in September. This means that many staff will be in a “pending” state throughout the summer to determine whether they will be dismissed.
There are allegations that human resources departments are reducing the number of employees who “speak out loud” within the company. It was reported that some of the programmers who had been laid off were “arbitrary” and suggested that the target candidates were those who had expressed “dissatisfied with the company or process” or who had been active in the corporate social group. A number of sources have simultaneously exposed King’s long-standing HR problem. In particular, the Candy Legend team was described as being in a “continuous but slow human loss” and an endless reorganization. “King’s HR is absolutely chaotic, as it has been for many years,” one source put it bluntly, “this is an extreme case — the HR department is responsible for protecting companies, not employees”.
An internal staff survey conducted prior to the announcement of the lay-offs revealed that corporate morale was at an all-time low. One person who was aware of the results of the survey and the company’s response said: “The senior leadership has stated that the promotion of morale is a top priority and, as can be seen, has now fallen to the bottom.” At the meeting at which staff reductions were announced, it was stated that management attempted to remove management layers, stakeholders and processes that hindered the pace of development, particularly mid-level management. “They also referred to the fact that we are now too professional and that the barriers between different functions, while generating alarming profits, are now an obstacle to development and require a combination of intelligence and generalization.” However, the way management communicates has generated strong dissatisfaction. “The main message from the leadership is that, at a teleconference, it’s like reading a book, it’s like hitting a face.” One employee described it. Others added: “Although the team is in a difficult position because of its incompetence, team members are close, caring for each other and passionate about improving the game.” Some senior staff have now been placed on “horticultural leave” and are expected to leave in September.
