Microsoft-owned developer King, best known for the Candy Crush series, is reportedly having low AI adoption internally after Microsoft mandated its use.
In a report by MobileGamer.Biz published yesterday, anonymous sources spoke about the mandate around AI tools at the studio. Last year, Microsoft's goal was reportedly in the 70 to 80 percent daily usage of AI on general tasks. Sources claim that the goal for this year was to get up to 100 percent, so that every developer, including managers, would have to use AI daily.
"AI adoption is very low apart from ChatGPT," a source told MobileGamer. "King leadership is in general quite AI skeptic."
This policy would differ from one reported at other Xbox Game Studios subsidiaries. During an interview at Gamescom LATAM, Compulsion Games founder and studio head Guillaume Provost told Game Developer that Microsoft isn't demanding its first-party teams leverage the technology.
"Just based on the types of games that we make, I would say we are probably not the studio that will use AI the most, and I don't think that bothers anything at Microsoft," Provost said. "The DNA of our studio is to handcraft things and to make them feel handcrafted, and that involves a lot of manual labor."
Back in November 2023, Microsoft shared plans for Xbox developers to use generative AI in quest and narrative design, and eventually leverage that technology out to third-party studios. At the start of this year, the company hyped a gen-AI model but didn't explain how it would help developers. The AI integration has continued sporadically since, with Microsoft's AI-powered Copilot assist tool being added for testing on Xbox mobile in June, and recent disclosed plans for the next Xbox to have "AI-powered features" that will "transform" gameplay.
Reports about internal turmoil at King continue
Last month, Bloomberg reported that King had initiated the process of making around 200 people redundant across its offices in Barcelona, Spain. In a follow-up report by MobileGamer.Biz, sources told the outlet that King was reportedly replacing a number of employees with AI tools created internally.
At the time, sources said that some of the staff reportedly at risk, which included level designers, user research staff, plus UX and narrative writers, spent the last few years building and training AI tools. Now, those AI tools were "basically replacing the teams," according to a source, with the copywriting team "completely removing people" due to said tools.
According to the new report, sources have claimed that Candy Crush and King in general is a "very very toxic environment." While Microsoft and AI is reportedly one cause of the low morale, sources said the toxicity is endemic of the leadership team at King.
MobileGamer reports that some employees who were laid off are attempting to take legal action over their severance packages, while some staff have been rehired within weeks of their jobs being cut. Sources also claimed that some burnt-out staff have been put on medical leave.
Game Developer has contacted King for clarification on the AI mandate.
