Latest news with #CandyCrushSaga
Miami Herald
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Fired Candy Crush Devs To Be Replaced With AI
The ongoing bloodbath at Microsoft and its subsidiaries, Activision, Blizzard, King, Bethesda, and more has led to high-profile video game cancellations and thousands of jobs being cut in favor of developing AI tools and reinforcing an already-strong bottom line. Basically, people are losing their jobs and livelihoods for no reason other than to boost stock prices for shareholders, a vast majority of whom don't know anything about video games. As time goes by, these mass layoffs are being contextualized by new information, and it's not pretty. The games of King, developers of Candy Crush Saga and other simple mobile apps with tons of opportunities for microtransactions, might not be terribly popular among "core gamers," but they are money-making machines. Candy Crush Saga launched in 2012 and grossed over twenty billion dollars as of 2023. But it's still not enough. It's never enough. According to reports from MobileGamer and Kotaku, roughly 200 King employees are being laid off, including the entire level design team. Worse yet, this particular team is set to be replaced by AI tools they themselves created and trained. According to the reports, morale at the company is at an all-time low. Theoretically, AI can be a useful tool for developers to streamline their jobs and allocate more resources towards creativity and less on the granular grind of game development. In practice, however, high-paid executives see AI as a way to cut the jobs of the hard-working people who actually make games and cut out concepts like 'creativity' entirely. By outsourcing development to soulless robots, they can consolidate the profits for themselves. Core gaming enthusiasts who play on console or PC might not care about the assembly-line automation of Candy Crush, but they should. Because if They/The Man/The Suits/The Executive Class can do it with mobile games, turning art into soulless 'product' and vapid 'content,' it's only a matter of time before they do the same thing to games you actually care about. We're already seeing the rise of AI replacing voice actors, and 'tech bros' are practically foaming at the mouth over an AI facsimile of Quake, even if it runs poorly and sucks to actually play. The technology isn't quite there yet... But once it is, you can be damned sure that 'Big AI' will attempt to ruin AAA gaming in ways we can't even imagine, and the shareholders are going to love it. Copyright The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Metro
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Candy Crush developers replaced by the AI tools they helped make
Concerns that Microsoft's layoffs at Xbox would lead to developers being replaced by AI seem to have been proven true, starting with mobile developer King. Science fiction has been warning about the dangers of AI for decades and while emotionless robots taking over the world isn't currently a problem, soulless company executives replacing all their staff with incompetent AI tools definitely is. Of course, that's not quite how they put it, especially Microsoft, which is obsessed by the technology and insists that it can help gaming as much as anything else. After the most recent round of layoffs, many suspected they were intending to replace the thousands of vacated positions with AI tools and that's now been confirmed at Candy Crush Saga developer King. Despite being highly profitable, King was one of the first studios to report layoffs, earlier in the month, and now former staff have described how the AI tools they helped train have now replaced them. Around 200 staff are believed to have been cut at King, which has offices in Stockholm and London, with many developers currently in 'limbo', as the company negotiates with union representatives. An internal survey reportedly describes morale as being 'in the gutter', with website implying that dissenting voices are specifically being targeted by HR. Reportedly, the majority of cuts are in middle management, UX (user experience), and narrative copywriting. At the same time, Farm Heroes Saga, which is made in the UK, has lost half its staff, including level designers and user research – which adds up to around 50 people on its own. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. Many other staff have also been told their jobs are at risk, most of which have spent the last few years training AI tools to do their jobs. This has apparently worked well enough that they are now being replaced by those same tools. More Trending 'Most of level design has been wiped, which is crazy since they've spent months building tools to craft levels quicker,' one former employee is quoted as saying. '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,' they added. Microsoft took control of King in 2023, when they acquired Activision Blizzard, and previous to that claimed that King and mobile gaming was the primary reason for the purchase, more so than Call Of Duty. There's since been no sign that's true, much as Microsoft's claims of wanting to support the Nintendo Switch have so far led to only two games (Pentiment and Grounded) in 2024 and nothing being announced for the Switch 2. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: An amazing John Wick video game you've never heard of will be delisted this week MORE: Fallout 5 may not be made by Bethesda as Elder Scrolls 6 enters 'playable state' MORE: Islanders: New Shores review – a cosy city builder at a budget price
San Francisco Chronicle
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Bay Area resident wins $250,000 for playing ‘Candy Crush'
A Bay Area resident's mobile gaming skills paid off big time, earning the gamer a $250,000 prize as the runner-up in the 2025 Candy Crush All Stars tournament. Ingrid Rosales, 31, of Antioch placed second in the fifth annual competition, which concluded in June and drew 'Candy Crush Saga' players from across the world for weeks of intense online competition. A player from Portugal, identified as Tiago P., won the first place prize of $500,000 and a diamond encrusted ring from the Atlanta-based jewelry company Icebox. 'It started as something I enjoyed doing in my spare time,' Rosales told the Chronicle, noting that she began playing 'Candy Crush Saga' on her computer when it was released in 2012 by interactive entertainment company King. 'Now, I know I am in the top 10 players in the world. Well, that just feels very special.' The free-to-play online game requires players to match similar candy tiles in groups of three in the least amount of moves as they progress through levels and complete challenges. To qualify as one of the game's top 10 players and secure a coveted spot in the tournament's live final, players had to collect as many All Stars purple candies as possible while they moved through each stage of the game. In-game rounds of the tournament began on March 20, and more than 15 million 'Candy Crush Saga' gamers, nicknamed Crushers, competed for a spot in the live final, which took place from June 11-13 in Los Angeles and was hosted by Katie Linendoll of 'Today.' 'The competition itself has introduced me to so many new people, and I feel like I am part of a community, which feels very special,' Rosales said, adding that she's still thinking about how to spend her winnings. 'When I started playing 'Candy Crush Saga,' I honestly didn't think I would end up taking part in a tournament with millions of other people across the world.'
Times
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Four-year-olds ‘exploited' by tech giants' app store age ratings
Children as young as four are being exploited because of misleading age ratings on Apple and Google's app stores, it has been claimed. The recommended app store ages for some of the most popular apps, such as Candy Crush Saga, Whiteout Survival and Toca Boca World, are much younger than the limits set by developers in the terms and conditions. This leads to young children being left in the 'firing line' of in-app purchases, targeted advertising and data processing, campaigners say. The Good Law Project and 5Rights, a charity protecting children's digital rights, have filed a legal complaint with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over the issue. Candy Crush Saga, which has 275 million monthly users, has an age rating of 4+ on Apple and 3 on Google, but its terms and conditions say players have to be at least 13. For Toca Boca World, which has 60 million monthly users, the ages are 4+ on Apple and 3 on Google but the terms and conditions say under-18s need parental consent. Whiteout Survival, which has 10 million monthly users, is rated 4+ on Apple and 7 on Google but its policies set a minimum age of 13 and under-18s need parental consent. All these games are free to download but generate revenue from in-app purchases, as well as data processing and advertising. Apple and Google can take up to 30 per cent of this revenue. The disparity is created by the app stores rating on content of the games but developers state ages based on data-processing laws. Of the top 500 apps by in-app revenue, 45 per cent display a lower age rating in the app store than terms and conditions and 74 per cent have a lower app-store age than the privacy policy, the complaint says. Duncan McCann, Good Law Project's tech and data policy lead, said: 'These tech giants are refusing to do the right thing and act, simply because it is so lucrative not to do so.' Leanda Barrington-Leach, executive director of 5Rights, said: 'It is unfathomable how Apple and Google can so blatantly mislead consumers.' The CMA is investigating whether Apple and Google have 'strategic market status'. If the regulator finds that they do, it can impose conduct requirements on them. Apple said: 'We are committed to protecting user privacy and security and providing a safe experience for children.' Google said: 'Google Play does not control app ratings — these are the responsibility of the app developers and the International Age Rating Coalition. Ratings in Europe (including the United Kingdom) are maintained by Pan European Game Information.'
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
How Candy Crush uses AI to keep players coming back to its puzzles
HighlightsKing, the Swedish video game developer behind Candy Crush Saga, utilizes artificial intelligence to create and update more than 18,700 levels of the game, helping developers save time and enhance player experience. In the United States, consumer spending on video game content surged to $51.3 billion in 2024, with mobile games, including Candy Crush Saga, accounting for approximately half of that spending. Todd Green, general manager of the Candy Crush franchise, emphasized that AI is used to assist in the design process rather than to replace game workers, aiming to improve the speed and accuracy of level development. Players swiping their way through more than 18,700 levels of Candy Crush Saga might be surprised to learn they're solving puzzles designed with an assist from artificial intelligence . The app that helped make gamers out of anyone with a smartphone uses AI to help developers create levels to serve a captive audience constantly looking for more sweets to squash. King, the Swedish video game developer behind Candy Crush , also uses AI to update older levels to help ensure players don't feel bored, stuck or frustrated as they spend time with the game. Todd Green , general manager of the Candy Crush franchise, said using AI in that way helps free up developers' time to create new puzzle boards. It would be "extremely difficult," he said, for designers to update and reconfigure more than 18,000 levels without AI taking a first pass. Within the video game industry, discussions around the use of AI in game development run the gamut. Some game makers see AI as a tool that can assist with menial tasks, allowing designers and artists to focus on bigger projects. AI, they say, can help build richer worlds by creating more interactive non-player characters, for example. But there are also those who strongly oppose the use of AI, or who see the tech as a threat to their livelihoods - be it as video game actors and performers, or as workers who help make games. Concerns over AI led game performers with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists to go on strike in late July. "We're not putting chatbots into the game. We're not putting AI-powered design experiences into the game for players directly to play with," Green said, adding that the tech is not being used to replace game workers. "Instead, we're trying to deploy AI on existing problems that we have in order to make the work of the teams faster or more accurate, and more accurate more quickly." In the United States, consumer spending on video game content increased to $51.3 billion in 2024, up from $49.8 billion in 2023, with mobile games accounting for about half of all video game content spending, according to data from the Entertainment Software Association trade group. Mobile is now the leading game platform among players aged 8 and older, the ESA says. Candy Crush - first launched on Facebook in 2012 - is constantly updating. King recently released its 300th client version of the game. Gaming giant Activision Blizzard acquired King in 2016 for $5.9 billion. The free-to-play game is in a unique position, said Joost Van Dreunen , author of "One Up: Creativity, Competition, and the Global Business of Video Games." Candy Crush is more than a decade old, boasts millions of users and caters to a "ravenous set of players," he said. Demand is so high for new content that it makes sense to use AI to offset the work it takes to create so many levels, Van Dreunen added. "To supply that at scale, you absolutely can rely on a sort of artificial intelligence or generative AI to create the next set of forms," he said. "The thing about Candy Crush is that every level is technically a single board that you have to solve or clear before you can advance. With AI and the existing library of human-made boards, it makes total sense to then accelerate and expand the efforts to just create more inventory. People play more levels." King uses AI to target two separate areas: developing new levels and going back to older levels, in some cases, puzzles that are several years old, and reworking them to ensure they're still worth playing. On new levels designed for people who have played the game for a long time, the company wants to ensure the puzzles are fun "on first contact." "That's hard for us to do, because we don't get the benefit of having many players test or play through the levels and give us feedback. We have to sort of try and pitch it right at first," he said. "There's a really important group for us in between people who maybe played before and perhaps took a break for a while, and then coming back because they saw or heard of or were curious about what might be new." Green said King uses AI as a behind-the-scenes assistant in the design "loop" of the game, rather than as a tool that immediately puts something new in front of players. "Doing that for 1,000 levels all at once is very difficult by hand," he said. "So the most important thing to understand here is that we are using AI as like a custom design." For most players, Green said, the fun in solving the puzzles lies in the "up and down." Levels aren't designed in order of difficulty. An easy level can follow a few difficult levels - or vice versa - to give the game a sense of variety. Leveraging AI means that instead of the team working on several hundred levels each week, they could potentially improve thousands of levels per week because they're able to automate the drafting of the improved levels, he added. "We talk to players all the time," he said. "We also get the quantitative feedback. We can see how players respond to the levels... How easy are the levels? Do they get sort of stuck, or are they progressing in the way that we hope?" To determine whether gamers and playing through the way the designers intended, King looks at several factors, including pass rate - how many times a player passes a level out of every 100 attempts - and how often a board is "reshuffled," or refreshed with all candies rearranged. Some metrics are also intangible, like whether a level is simply fun. "It's also, to some extent, obviously subjective," Green said. "It's different for different people."
