Candy Crush Leverages AI to Enhance Player Experience and Streamline Development

AI-Powered Puzzle Design in Candy Crush

Candy Crush Saga, the popular mobile game with over 18,700 levels, has incorporated artificial intelligence into its development process to enhance player experience and streamline content creation. King, the Swedish game developer behind Candy Crush, is leveraging AI technology to assist in designing new levels and updating existing ones 1

1

Todd Green, general manager of the Candy Crush franchise, explains that AI serves as a behind-the-scenes assistant in the game's design loop. The technology helps developers create new puzzle boards and reconfigure older levels, a task that would be "extremely difficult" to accomplish manually for over 18,000 levels 2

2

Balancing Player Engagement and Development Efficiency

King uses AI to target two key areas:

1. Developing new levels that are engaging "on first contact" for long-time players
2. Reworking older levels to ensure they remain enjoyable and challenging

This approach allows the development team to potentially improve thousands of levels per week, compared to the previous capacity of several hundred 3

3

AI's Role in Game Mechanics and Player Experience

The implementation of AI in Candy Crush focuses on maintaining the "up and down" experience that players enjoy. Levels are not designed in order of difficulty; instead, easier levels may follow more challenging ones to provide variety. To assess the effectiveness of levels, King monitors several factors 4

4

• Pass rate (successful attempts per 100 tries)
• Frequency of board reshuffles
• Qualitative feedback from players
• Intangible metrics like overall fun factor

Industry Perspective and Market Position

Joost Van Dreunen, author of "One Up: Creativity, Competition, and the Global Business of Video Games," notes that Candy Crush's use of AI makes sense given its large user base and high demand for new content. The game's unique position as a decade-old title with millions of users justifies the use of AI to scale content creation 5

5

Related Stories

King's AI Tools Replace Laid-Off Developers in Controversial Move

AI drives 181,000 new games in six months, but trust and job losses mount across industry

Generative AI Usage in Steam Games Surges by 700% in 2025, Raising Concerns and Opportunities

Google exec claims 90% of game developers already use AI but won't tell players about it

AI in the Broader Gaming Industry

The use of AI in game development has sparked diverse reactions within the industry. While some developers see AI as a valuable tool for automating menial tasks and creating richer game worlds, others express concerns about job displacement. These concerns led to a strike by game performers with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists in late July 1

1

Mobile Gaming Market Growth

The implementation of AI in Candy Crush comes amid significant growth in the mobile gaming market. In the United States, consumer spending on video game content increased to $51.3 billion in 2024, up from $49.8 billion in 2023. Mobile games now account for about half of all video game content spending and have become the leading game platform among players aged 8 and older 2

2