Candy Crush Creator King Acquires Artificial Intelligence Software Company Peltarion | Pocket Gamer.biz

Candy Crushcreator King recently acquired Sweden-based artificial intelligence software company Peltarion as it seeks to expand the company’s gaming AI and machine learning capabilities and teams and increase the use of AI in its gaming platform.

The “no-code machine learning operations platform” Peltarion was founded in 2004 by Luka Crnkovic-Friis and Måns Essén in Sweden. Crnkovic-Friis and Essén will serve in leadership roles at King, focusing on improving the company’s AI technologies and growing the Swedish AI community.

In line with the company’s strategic developments in these areas, the main goal is to become a “gaming AI hub” in the gaming industry, according to a company statement.

A playful world

Tjodolf Sommestad, Chairman of King, said, “We are proud to announce the acquisition of Peltarion. Machine learning technology is evolving rapidly, and by increasing our investments in this area, we plan to deliver even more creative content to our 250 million monthly players* (Q1 2022) across the globe.

“We believe that the talented team at Peltarion, along with the powerful technology they have built, will help us serve our players even more effectively with more engaging games and content. This is one step closer to our mission to make the world fun.

Luka Crnkovic-Friis, CEO of Peltarion, added: “This is a monumental chapter in the history of Peltarion. We are excited to be part of a great AI success story in the Nordics, especially with Stockholm at its core. We are impressed that King is one of the most successful Swedish technology companies and mobile game developers of modern times.

“The scale and reach of King, with iconic franchises like Candy Crush Saga, is a perfect match for our technology. The opportunities with AI seem to be endless, and we look forward to unlocking the potential of working together.”

King’s Diversity Space Tool, a sequel that quantified various characteristics within its in-game character casts in an effort to combat unconscious bias, was recently heavily criticized after its use in Activision Blizzard franchises including Call of Duty and Overwatch 2.