Marvel Rivals Layoff Sparks Outrage, Impacting The Game

In an unexpected turn of events, the US-based studio behind Marvel Rivals has laid off several employees, causing confusion and hatred among industry professionals and fans alike. The layoffs, which were first revealed on LinkedIn and then magnified by gaming several online outlets, have sparked concerns about the game's survival and NetEase Games's overall policy.

Marvel Rivals has been a huge success, one of NetEase Games' live-service hero shooters, with approximately 300,000 concurrent gamers on Steam alone and many more on the PlayStation and Xbox platforms. Given these remarkable figures, word of layoffs among the development team came as a surprise.

The initial reports came from a LinkedIn post from Thus Sasser, a developer affected by the layoffs. Sasser writes: "It's such an unusual industry. My amazing, skilled team recently helped launch an extraordinarily successful new franchise, Marvel Rivals, for NetEase Games, and we were laid off. Oh well, times are bad all around. Let's get these amazing people new jobs since we all need to eat, right?" Sasser's post instantly gained attention, raising discussions regarding industry job security and NetEase's decision-making process.

Initially, the announcement caused alarm, with many wondering who would continue to provide content for Marvel Rivals. Subsequent reports confirmed that only the US-based studio contracted by NetEase had been impacted. According to Nick Calandro, who commented about the situation on BlueSky, the US division only employed six people. This shows that NetEase outsourced some of the game's development to this small team while the primary work remained with the company's main office in China.

Daniel Ahmad, a well-known industry expert, provided more perspective by stating that the layoffs are part of a larger shift in NetEase's investment plan. He noted: it is worth noting that this round of layoffs only affects the staff in the United States, not the core development team in Beijing. It is part of a broader review of NetEase's overseas studio investments. Over the last year, the company has withdrawn support from a number of abroad teams.

NetEase Games has made controversial decisions in their business approach. The corporation has recently made news for unexpectedly shutting down studios, such as Visions of Mana, which was closed either before or immediately after the game's release. It appears that NetEase is reallocating resources and consolidating activities closer to home. Instead of contracting external teams, they may prioritize in-house development to maintain greater control over their initiatives.

Despite the layoffs, Marvel Rivals appears to be rolling along at full speed. The game continues to have great engagement, and impending content drops are building excitement on social media. However, the decision to remove a portion of the team—particularly since live-service games often require continual development—raises concerns about NetEase's ability to maintain the game's momentum with a reduced crew.

For the time being, Marvel Rivals is a thriving title, but the layoffs highlight the fragile nature of the game industry, where even successful ventures are vulnerable to unexpected economic decisions. While the layoffs only affected NetEase's US-based contract staff, they illustrate broader worries about job security in game development.

With NetEase continuing to reassess its global assets, it remains to be seen whether other studios will suffer the same fate. Meanwhile, the core Marvel Rivals team in China continues to work on the game, and fans can expect new content in the near future. Only time will tell if NetEase's choice to restructure will impact the game's overall performance.