KING WINS GLOBAL DIVERSITY INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR AT THE BRITISH DIVERSITY AWARDS 2026

• King's Equity Engine combines three tools, INYA (inclusive language), NEURO (neuro-inclusion), and BUZZ (inclusive game design), to embed inclusivity across King's workflows.

LONDON, March 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- King, the interactive entertainment company behind some of the world's most iconic mobile games including Candy Crush Saga, has been named Global Diversity Initiative of the Year at the British Diversity Awards 2026 for its Equity Engine initiative, designed to redefine what inclusion looks like in gaming. This award celebrates individuals and organisations driving meaningful change across diversity, equity and inclusion in the UK.

Built around King's mission of Making the World Playful, the Equity Engine is a suite of AI-powered tools developed by King to help teams design, write, communicate and create with inclusion in mind. As part of the initiative, King launched INYA, the company's inclusive language tool, NEURO, focussed on neuro-inclusion support, and BUZZ, an inclusive game design assistant.

INYA, a domain-adapted, GPT-based tool, acts as both a writing consultant and an educational support system. It supports writers, editors and internal teams by helping them identify and correct non-inclusive language and learn best practice for inclusive communication. NEURO helps build understanding of neurodiversity across the business, including the many different ways people experience and interact with the world. BUZZ has been designed to help improve inclusion and accessibility in gaming. It reviews features and player flows to identify improvements that can help make gameplay more fun, fair and accessible for millions of players globally.

At King, the Equity Engine is intended to extend the reach of DE&I beyond traditional approaches by embedding awareness and learning into daily workflows across teams including design, narrative, HR, communications and leadership. Together, the three tools reflect King's broader ambition and commitment to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion at scale.

Vikki Leach, Senior Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at King, said: "We are incredibly proud to see the Equity Engine recognised by the British Diversity Awards. At King, we believe making the world playful starts with making play more inclusive for everyone. By combining technology with empathy and imagination, we are able to bring inclusion into the heart of our creative processes, from the words we use, to the experiences we create for millions of players around the world."

Anaëlle Sikich, Creative Copywriter at Game Services, creator of INYA and NEURO at King, added: "This project has been both a professional and personal journey for me. I named the first project after my grandmother, Virginia (or Inya), a Pechuenche woman that stood up for her own community in Latin America. Although she is no longer here, she is still with me and in everything I do. She would be so proud to see how we are working for all voices to be heard and be represented in our Kingdom and our games."

About King

With a mission of Making the World Playful, King is a leading interactive entertainment company for the mobile world with more than 20 years of history of delivering some of the world's most iconic games in the mobile gaming industry, including the world-famous Candy Crush franchise, as well as other mobile titles such as Farm Heroes Saga. King games are played by more than 200 million monthly active users. King, part of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), has Kingsters in Stockholm, Malmö, London, Barcelona, Berlin, Dublin, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Malta. More information can be found at King.com or by following us on LinkedIn and @lifeatking on Instagram.

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