Even with "Marvel Rivals'" huge success, NetEase Games has surprisingly laid off some of its major developers, such as game director Thaddeus Sasser. The axing of some employees just took place a day after the mid-Season 1 patch notes leak was dropped.
While it's still a mystery why NetEase resorted to that decision, the company did not leave any explanation behind the sudden layoff.
'Marvel Rivals' Success Did Not Save Its Developers
"Marvel Rivals" has taken the gaming world by storm, amassing 20 million players in its first month and securing a spot among Steam's top three most-played games. With over 300,000 concurrent players, the free-to-play hero shooter seemed well-positioned for long-term success. However, behind the scenes, its development team has been blindsided by a surge of sudden layoffs.
Game director Thaddeus Sasser went to LinkedIn to verify the news that he and his "stellar, talented team" have been terminated. Other developers, such as level designers Jack Burrows and Garry McGee, also posted their terminations on social media.
NetEase Layoffs Leave Devs Stunned
The game industry has been beset by widespread layoffs, yet few anticipated NetEase laying off a team working on such a breakout success. McGee explained his dismay in a LinkedIn post:
"My team just worked on and shipped Marvel Rivals, which was way bigger than all of us imagined! Sadly, my team were also let go. Weird times across the industry then."
Burrows seconded that it's such a huge joy to work with his American colleagues in developing "Marvel Rivals." However, he acknowledged that even though the game is thriving on early success, the layoff remains inevitable for everyone.
NetEase Remains Silent Why There's a Big Layoff
Neither NetEase nor the let-go developers have provided an explicit explanation for the layoffs, GosuGamers reports. The company has been tight-lipped about whether this move is part of a broader restructuring or cost-cutting exercise.
Ironically, "Marvel Rivals" is not impacted by the layoffs—yet. NetEase has just unveiled its Season 1.5 update, complete with new playable characters The Thing and The Human Torch along with Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman.
What NetEase Games did recently was pretty concerning. While layoffs are common thing across several industries, what's not common is leaving the affected employees hanging and looking for a reason behind the decision.
Well, things might change in the next few months and we will see if "Marvel Rivals" will sustain its success on the horizon. Will the game's sudden expansion continue, or will the loss of essential talent harm its long-term viability?
Earlier this year, the dev team apologized to every innocent player who had been mistakenly banned due to game-wide cheating.
