Mindark is reorganizing game development around artificial intelligence, with staff cuts affecting the teams that build graphics and virtual worlds. The Swedish company says the shift is intended to make development more efficient and eventually lower the barriers for users and partners to create parts of its online game, Entropia Universe.
Restructuring changes the development team
At the end of May, Mindark announced plans to lay off 25 employees. That figure represented 40 percent of its workforce at the time, with most of the reductions affecting graphics and world design. Mindark develops Entropia Universe, an online role-playing game that has been on the market for more than 20 years.
The company connected the restructuring to strategic goals involving AI and to building what it called a “sustainable cost base for the future”. Its AI strategy had been unveiled in early February 2023. The announcement linked the new direction to changes in how the game could be developed and expanded.
The company has not said how many employees were ultimately let go. Its announcement also does not specify whether particular AI systems replaced particular roles, or which tools are being used in production. The distinction matters: a broader shift toward AI-assisted work does not by itself explain how tasks or jobs changed inside the studio.
AI-generated worlds are part of Mindark’s plan
In a note to shareholders, Mindark described a future centered on AI-generated virtual worlds. The stated aim is to reduce the barriers that users and partners face when seeking to own planets or areas in the game compared with the present day.
That goal suggests AI is being considered as part of the process for creating and expanding game environments. Generative AI models can produce graphics assets for video games and early 3D graphics, but the source does not say which kinds of assets Mindark currently makes with AI or how far the technology is integrated into its workflow.
In an August 15 letter to shareholders, CEO Henrik Nel Jerkrot confirmed that the restructuring took place over the summer. He acknowledged challenges in the transition and said the remaining employees had been able to make development more time-efficient. The letter presented efficiency as an outcome of the changes, without describing specific productivity measures.
Layoffs raise questions about AI and jobs
Nel Jerkrot declined to comment to the Swedish business magazine Kollega. Games unionist Björn Norberg, who led the negotiations, confirmed the layoffs, as did graphic designer Hugo Borg, who was among those laid off.
Norberg said his union needs to find ways to address how AI may affect jobs in the future. He also said it is difficult to argue against financial benefits. His comments capture a tension in the shift: companies may see cost and efficiency advantages, while workers and unions must consider what those changes mean for roles and employment.
Mindark’s case does not establish a general pattern for every game studio. It does show how AI plans, staffing decisions and ambitions for faster development can become connected within one company. With no detailed accounting of the tools or final job losses, the precise relationship between AI adoption and the cuts remains unclear.
AI tools are already common across game studios
A study by VC firm Andreessen Horowitz surveyed 243 game studios and found that 87% were using AI tools. Their most common applications were design inspiration, storyboarding and storytelling, according to the study. These uses span early creative work, rather than pointing only to automated production of finished game assets.
The tools named in the source include ChatGPT and Midjourney, alongside GitHub Copilot for coding assistance. Leonardao.ai and Scenario, described as generative AI systems designed specifically for game development, were also gaining popularity.
Looking ahead, 64% of studios said they planned to fine-tune AI models with their own data. That points to interest in adapting AI systems to studio needs. It does not, on its own, show how those plans will affect staffing or what kinds of work the models will perform.
For Mindark, the stated destination is a more time-efficient development process and virtual worlds that are easier for users and partners to build. The staff reductions make the employment consequences part of that story, while the limited detail leaves open how AI is being applied in the studio today.