Marvel Rivals / NetEase
The developers of the heroic shooter Marvel Rivals were suddenly fired less than two months after the successful release of the shareware game.
The game’s director Thaddeus Sasser confirmed on LinkedIn that the layoffs took place within NetEase, probably in the American division. It is not known how many developers lost their jobs and whether the author of the post himself was affected. Further development of the game seems to be transferred to the studio’s Chinese branch.
«It’s such a strange industry.. My all-star talented team has just helped create the incredibly successful new Marvel Rivals franchise for NetEase Games.…and was simply fired!», — the game director writes.
The unexpected layoffs look strange against the backdrop of the successful launch of Marvel Rivals, which earned more than $130 million in the first month alone. Simultaneous peak on Steam reached almost 450 thousand players, but the total number of gamers was higher. The game was released on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, but Microsoft and Sony hide the statistics.
The heroic shooter was developed by Call of Duty and Battlefield veterans and has a similar atmosphere to Overwatch with heroes and villains. Gamers received 33 free heroes, eight maps with different modes, etc. The first season of Marvel Rivals was dedicated to Dr. Doom’s experiments with time, but it is unclear how the team reduction will affect it and further seasons.
It is not known who exactly was fired — directors, programmers, or designers — but the quality of the game may suffer due to the removal of developers responsible for key elements of the game and design. There are risks that the Chinese branch of NetEase Games will start releasing something incomprehensible and minor updates.
Source: Notebookcheck