On February 18, NetEase laid off Marvel Rivals development team members, including game director Thaddeus Sasser, just two months after its incredibly successful launch. The hero shooter has been such a runaway success that the news blindsided people across the video game industry. According to a statement the company issued to Game File, NetEase made these cuts “for organizational reasons and to optimize development efficiency for the game.” The layoffs specifically affected the support team based in Seattle while the “core” Guangzhou-based team “remains fully committed to delivering an exceptional experience.”
“We are investing more, not less, into the evolution and growth of this game,” the statement reads. “We’re excited to deliver new super hero characters, maps, features, and content to ensure an engaging live service experience for our worldwide player base.”
NetEase can say Marvel Rivals will be fine with these cuts, but the industry is still reeling from the layoffs, especially given how well the shooter has done in a volatile live-service market. The free-to-play game accumulated over 20 million players in its first month, and is estimated to have brought in over $136 million in revenue in that time. Several industry members and pundits have expressed disbelief at how a game could be doing so well while the employment of the people who helped make it a success remains so precarious.
One notable aspect of this situation is that NetEase, a China-based company, is broadly pulling out of overseas development. For example, in 2024, the company pulled its funding for Worlds Untold, a Vancouver-based studio led by ex-BioWare director Mac Walters, causing the studio to “pause” its operations. The Marvel Rivals layoffs may be part of a larger trend in NetEase’s business plans, but it’s still proof that even a runaway success isn’t enough to save you from the whims of a corporation.
Worth noting this round of layoffs only impacts the team in the US, not the core dev team in China.
It’s part of a broader reconsideration of NetEase’s overseas investments and studios. The firm has pulled funding from a number of overseas teams over the past year. https://t.co/Ivy8KjRdcS
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) February 18, 2025
Very gross for people to “um actually” the Netease layoffs with “they were just a support group, not the Real Developers” like support devs do not bust their asses on live-service games, it’s why some of them exist and still get work
— Justin Carter (@GigawattConduit) February 19, 2025
If you’re confused on the Marvel Rivals layoffs news, the team that got laid off were part of a smaller arm in Seattle. NetEase is primarily based in China, they used them to help launch the game and now they’re gonna cut costs, replace, and get out of the US. So much greed.
— Big Boss (@LordBalvin) February 18, 2025
If NetEase is looking to untether itself from overseas development, it raises questions about the future of several companies under the corporation’s umbrella. NetEase’s overseas investments include studios like Bulletfarm, led by ex-Call of Duty developer David Vonderhaar, and Bad Brain Game Studios which is made up of ex-Ubisoft devs. The video game industry is in a state of unprecedented turnover right now, with thousands of people having lost their jobs in the past year. The teams behind successful games and flops alike are getting hit with layoffs, so what exactly is a developer to do?
https://t.co/Wsc8tbfKM5 pic.twitter.com/rKWUuMYuBv
— lexible (@1exi) February 18, 2025
There seems to be absolutely no job stability in the gaming industry, it genuinely doesn't matter if you deliver an extremely successful game, your job is still on the line. Just insane. https://t.co/nYqFSQ8LJ9
— Kala Elizabeth (@kalaelizabeth) February 18, 2025
Marvel Rivals is approaching its mid-season update on Friday, February 21, which will add the Human Torch and the Thing to the roster. The hero shooter may keep trucking along, but the game’s success story now has a cloud hanging over it just two months into its life.
