Maia Pak
ACROSS the Spanish videogame industry, significant layoffs are taking place. This reflects a worldwide restructuring that many are attributing to the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Madrid-based videogame studios, Secret 6 and Aheartfulofgames, has recently laid off 42 and 28 employees, respectively.
Globally, several thousand employees within the videogame industry have been laid off in 2025 alone, despite the fact that the industry is valued at about €240 billion.
Microsoft announced its fourth round of layoffs this year, letting go of 9000 employees on Wednesday. The company’s CEO, Satya Nadella, stated that the company is ‘thriving,’ and that Microsoft’s ‘overall headcount is relatively unchanged, and some of the talent and expertise in our industry and at Microsoft is being recognized and rewarded at levels never seen before.’
Additionally, Nadella stated that “AI transformation” will be one of Microsoft’s top priorities, looking toward the future.
“Consider how organizations, empowered with AI, could unlock entirely new levels of agility and innovation by transforming decision-making, streamlining operations, and enabling every team to achieve more together than ever before,” Nadella said.
In Barcelona, workers at King, the multimillion dollar company behind Candy Crush, protested this Thursday following the 50-person layoff. The employees claim that they helped the company create an AI tool to create new levels of the games, which is now replacing them.
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