Sources have revealed that many of the 200 staff being cut at mobile gaming giant King, the developer of Candy Crush, will be replaced by the very AI tools they built and trained.

MobileGamer reports that multiple anonymous sources have shed light on the situation at Candy Crush maker King as the company prepares to lay off around 200 employees. The sources claim that a significant portion of the staff being let go will be replaced by the very AI tools they helped develop and train over the past few years.

The layoffs, which were first reported by Bloomberg earlier this month, are said to primarily affect middle management, UX, and narrative copywriting positions. One source stated, “Most of level design 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. Similarly, the copywriting team is completely removing people since we now have AI tools that those individuals have been creating.”

A recent internal employee survey conducted before the layoffs indicated that morale was already at an all-time low. Following the job cuts announcement, one source familiar with the survey results and King’s response stated, “The SLT [senior leadership team] said improving morale was a top priority…as you can imagine, it’s now in the gutter.”

On the day of the layoffs, King’s leadership expressed their desire to remove layers, stakeholders, and processes that slow down development, particularly middle management. They also acknowledged that the company has become too specialized and siloed between divisions, which, while contributing to its impressive profits, is now hindering progress. The proposed solution involves merging and generalizing roles.