Earlier this month, it was reported that 200 staff would be axed from King. An internal memo now suggests the impacted roles would be effectively replaced by AI tools that the employees built and trained.
One staff member told Mobile Gamer that employees were targeted by HR for voicing internal dissatisfaction. The memo suggested that King would unveil a new organization chart in September, after negotiations with unions. Consequently, some employees of the studio are now in limbo.
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It is claimed that morale at the studio has declined from being at an all-time low to being “in the gutter”. Around half of the Farm Heroes Saga team (50 people) and many level designers and user research staff will be impacted by the layoff. Some of the game’s leadership have reportedly been placed on gardening leave ahead of their September exit.
Internal memo reveals more details about layoffs at King
More details about the proposed layoffs at King have emerged, thanks to a leaked internal memo shared with the studio’s employees titled, “Why is this happening?”
“The industry is changing fast, and our business has not been growing,” began the memo. “When that happens, we must not only look outside, at competitors and the market, but also inside.”
“As we’ve talked about before, we are making several changes to get the business back to growth. Unlocking many more AI tools is one recent example. Investing more in marketing this year is another.
“We’re fortunate to have many talented individuals at King. But we also have a collective problem: the size and structure of the company often makes it difficult to get things done.
“So, we plan to simplify the organization—fewer layers, fewer overlapping remits, fewer hours spent on alignment, fewer people in meetings, fewer stakeholders for every project.”
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The memo also said several leaders across King have been tasked with redesigning their organizations to be leaner. The redesigned organization will have new roles and headcount rebalancing. The goal is to make King a smaller company.
Level designers replaced by tools they built
Many of the narrative writers, UX designers, level designers, and user research staff who survived the layoff were told their roles were still at risk. What is even more distressing about the development is that the level designers have invested years in building the AI tools that can do their jobs, the same tools that have now replaced them.
“Most of level design has been wiped, which is crazy since they’ve spent months building tools to craft levels quicker,” one staff member told Mobile Gamer. “Now, those AI tools are basically replacing the teams. Similarly, the copywriting team is completely removing people since we now have AI tools that those individuals have been creating.”
“The fact AI tools are replacing people is absolutely disgusting but it’s all about efficiency and profits, even though the company is doing great overall. If we’re introducing more feedback loops then it’s crazy to remove the developers themselves, we need more hands and less leadership.”
How do you feel about devs being replaced by the AI tool they built and trained? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.
