Microsoft replaces fired workers with AI that the former employees built

Microsoft recently announced that, in an effort to make the company more agile, it would be laying off as many as 9,000 jobs across its various companies working under its umbrella, and one of those companies was Activision Blizzard King.

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King, the developer of some of the most popular mobile games, such as Candy Crush Saga, was hit with a 200-person layoff, and now we are beginning to hear who, or rather what, has replaced those workers. Sources speaking to MobileGamer.biz said that King suffered a loss of about 10% of its workforce and according to King staff that spoke to the publication anonymously, "Most of [the] level design [team] has been wiped, which is crazy since they've spent months building tools to craft levels quicker. Now, those AI tools are basically replacing the teams."

The level design team wasn't the only department to be hit with layoffs, as King's narrative copyrighting team was also hit extremely hard. The source said, "The copywriting team is completely removing people since we now have AI tools that those individuals have been creating." The source added that following the mass layoffs, morale at the company is "now in the gutter" as the source alleged that many of the staff that were let go have expressed "dissatisfaction with the company or processes" in the past.

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Moreover, the source claimed, "King HR is an absolute shitshow and has been for years. An extreme example of an HR department whose role it is to protect the company, not the staff."

Following the layoffs, King management is now making company morale a "top priority," with King staff calling for "more hands and less leadership."