Marvel Rivals Development Team, Including Game Director, Laid Off Despite Game’s Successful Launch

Marvel Rivals’ improvement workforce, together with the sport director, have been laid off regardless of the sport’s profitable launch. The layoffs have affected an unspecified variety of staff at NetEase’s design workforce based mostly in Seattle, the corporate stated in a press release to the press Wednesday. The job cuts come simply over two months after the discharge of NetEase’s free-to-play hero shooter Marvel Rivals. The recreation skyrocketed to recognition at launch, attracting over 10 million gamers in its first 72 hours.

Marvel Rivals Design Team Laid Off

The layoffs have been first confirmed by Marvel Rivals recreation director Thadeus Sasser, who stated in a LinkedIn post his workforce had been let go.

“This is such a bizarre business…,” Sasser started his put up. “My stellar, gifted workforce simply helped ship an extremely profitable new franchise in Marvel Rivals for NetEase Games… …and have been simply laid off!”

While the variety of staffers affected by the cuts is unclear, stage designers Gary MacGee and Jack Burrows confirmed they’d been laid off in separate LinkedIn posts.

“My workforce not too long ago helped develop and launch Marvel Rivals, which turned out to be an even bigger hit than any of us anticipated! Unfortunately my workforce was additionally laid off. Strange instances all throughout the business certainly,” McGee stated in his post.

“Hey people! Welp, simply received laid off from my job engaged on Marvel Rivals with NetEase. Was an unlimited pleasure to work with my American coworkers who be a part of me on this unhappy culling. Just could not dodge that large boot I assume, regardless of how large the success of the gig,” Burrows said.

In a press release despatched to VGC and different media retailers, NetEase confirmed the job cuts and stated the choice was taken for “organisational causes”.

“We not too long ago made the troublesome resolution to regulate Marvel Rivals’ improvement workforce construction for organisational causes and to optimise improvement effectivity for the sport,” the assertion stated. “This resulted in a discount of a design workforce based mostly in Seattle that’s half of a bigger world design perform in help of Marvel Rivals. We admire the exhausting work and dedication of these affected and will likely be treating them confidentially and respectfully with recognition for his or her particular person contributions.”

Marvel Rivals, an Overwatch-style hero shooter, launched on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series S/X on December 6, 2024, and rapidly turned a phenomenon. The gamereached 20 million gamers inside 11 days of launch. The hero shooter encompasses a star-studded roster of Marvel superheroes, together with Iron Man, Black Panther, Captain America, Black Widow, Hulk, Star-Lord, Venom, Wolverine and extra, that participate in team-based 6v6 space shootouts.