‘Were we all set up to fail?’ Staff at Candy Crush studio King reportedly fear more layoffs are to come
Microsoft wants developers to use AI every day despite scepticism, it’s claimed
Staff at Candy Crush studio King fear that more layoffs are on the horizon, according to a new report.
Last month King cut around 200 staff as part of Microsoft’s sweeping layoffs, which saw games cancelled and studios slashed across its game business.
It was claimed at the time that some level designers and copywriters were told their jobs were at risk, because they were set to be replaced by the AI tools they had helped to build.
Now, a new report by MobileGamer.biz suggests that morale continues to be low at the company with some staff taking legal action over their severance packages, and allegations that cuts were made with no consideration of staff performance.
One staff member, who spoke to the site under conditions of anonymity, said they believed Microsoft had been offering them illegal severance packages, and that while some are now taking legal action others have just taken the packages to avoid further complications.
“We all took lawyers and they were pretty clear that the proposals weren’t legal,” the source said. “But I decided in the end to sign, simply because I fear getting even less and I don’t believe we can win against a corporation like Microsoft.”
Others said they didn’t understand the rationale behind which staff were chosen to be laid off, with some who enjoyed positive performance reviews being let go regardless.
One source said it seemed as if King had “listed every employee, sorted by salary and then fired them top down, only skipping over people they trust”, and that it “didn’t matter that it was people who worked there for ten or more years or who contributed to the success and earned promotions”, because “performance didn’t matter”.
Another claimed that King has an ‘Annual Operation Plan’ (AOP) for each of its games, with each team needing to hit certain targets. They said games like Candy Crush Saga and Candy Crush Soda Saga were “far behind their AOP”, but added: “That being said, the AOP they forecasted was not realistic so the question has to be asked – were we all set up to fail?”
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Staff have also claimed that some burnt-out staff have been put on medical leave, while others are afraid of raising concerns because feedback is no longer allowed to be given anonymously and must be “connected to a name, which scared a lot of people”.
It’s also claimed that Microsoft is aiming for a goal of 100% daily usage of AI, “so that every artist, designer, developer, even managers have to use it on a daily basis”, but that “King leadership is in general quite AI sceptic”.
One former senior manager told MobileGamer.biz that they expected more layoffs to follow, saying the workforce at King was “bloated” and that “a reduction was very much needed”.
“If I were [Microsoft] I would also ask King to make sure they have a right-sized workforce,” they added, saying: “There will definitely be more layoffs.”
Microsoft announced its sweeping layoffs in early July, which could amount to over 9000 staff losing their jobs. The publisher’s troubled reboot of Perfect Dark has been cancelled, and The Initiative has been closed. Rare’s troubled Everwild has also been cancelled, and several senior developers have left the historic studio.
