The team behind one of the world's most-played mobile games is coming under severe scrutiny for how it's allegedly cutting corners. According to Mobilegamer.biz, King, the maker of Candy Crush, plans to lay off around 200 employees, replacing many of them with the very artificial intelligence tools they helped build.
What's happening?
King, owned by Microsoft, is reportedly laying off approximately 200 workers across its global offices, with large cuts hitting its Farm Heroes Saga team in London. According to internal sources cited by Mobilegamer.biz, many of those impacted include level designers, user researchers, and narrative writers — several of whom were directly involved in developing the AI tools now set to replace them.
Employees said morale was already low before the cuts, with one source describing the internal environment as being in "constant but low attrition." The decision was communicated in a company-wide call that one staffer described as being "read like a script," calling the move "a slap to the face."
Why is this shift concerning?
Swapping creative workers for AI tools might sound like a savvy business move, but it can also have environmental consequences. Generative AI doesn't just "appear" — it relies on massive data centers that consume staggering amounts of electricity and water to function. While more data centers are transitioning to clean energy, many still produce significant heat-trapping pollution as they source from dirty fuels. Regardless of energy source, they can also put a strain on local resources like water and power grids.
While these layoffs may help King "streamline operations," they also contribute to a broader trend of replacing human labor with energy-hungry systems — systems that contribute to making our homes hotter, our air dirtier, and our planet more unstable.
Unlike the creative human teams that once dreamed up new levels and storylines, AI fails to consider long-term player impact, accessibility needs, or community feedback in the same way people can. That human nuance is part of what made games like Candy Crush a global phenomenon in the first place.
What's being done about it?
As AI adoption accelerates, so do calls for greater oversight and responsibility. The European Union recently passed the AI Act — the first major law regulating AI development and use — with guardrails to protect workers and ensure transparency. In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission has cautioned companies against using AI in ways that harm consumers or undermine fair labor practices.
At the industry level, growing conversations around ethical AI use focus on reducing environmental impact, protecting creative jobs, and ensuring consent in how AI tools are trained and deployed. Some studios are rejecting full automation, opting instead to keep human creativity at the core of development.
Consumers can also help by supporting companies that value transparency and clean energy and by staying informed about the hidden energy costs of AI. Ethical tech begins with shared accountability.
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