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Just when we hoped the wave of layoffs in the gaming world might slow down, another hit has rocked the industry, this time at NetEase Games, the developer behind Marvel Rivals. Many of the affected workers took to LinkedIn, sharing the news that the Seattle-based North American team responsible for the game has been let go.
One of the former team members, Jack Burrows, who worked as a level designer, expressed his sorrow on Tuesday. “It was a genuine pleasure collaborating with my American colleagues, who are now part of this unfortunate reduction,” he shared. “No matter the project’s success, it seems we couldn’t sidestep this inevitable outcome.”
Marvel Rivals has been a joint venture, crafted by teams in the U.S. and China. While the full extent of today’s layoffs hasn’t been revealed, it appears likely that the Chinese side of the team will now take over the game’s ongoing support.
Released in December 2024, Marvel Rivals quickly climbed the ranks as a popular free-to-play game. According to Circana’s executive director, Mat Piscatella, it became one of the top five most-played games on Xbox, PlayStation, and Steam. Currently, the game is in the throes of its first season, featuring the Fantastic Four as new, playable characters. The game’s success has posed a notable challenge to Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch 2, prompting Blizzard to plan upcoming updates to regain its standing.
This latest round of layoffs coincides with NetEase Games stepping back from its financial commitments to several North American development teams it had been supporting. Notably, this includes teams like Humanoid Origin and Worlds Untold, founded by BioWare veterans Casey Hudson and Mac Walters, respectively.
### Reaction: What are we doing?
Not long ago, I expressed my excitement over Marvel Rivals’ impressive success, given the tumultuous state of the gaming market. Witnessing a new live-service game carve out a niche was thrilling, especially after the string of failures many titles experienced in recent years.
It’s nearly absurd to think the game isn’t reaching some ever-elusive benchmarks for success. I’m fairly certain that the revenue from skins for characters like Invisible Woman and Psylocke surpassed the earnings of several entire games released last year.
Against this backdrop, it’s disheartening to see this situation unfold and perplexing to make sense of it all. My heart goes out to everyone affected by these changes.
