Netease Games lays off US employees after Marvel Rivals’ success
Despite cracking the 40-million unique player base and topping Steam’s most-played chart this January, NetEase Games’ United States division, based in Seattle, was laid off in February.
Game director Thaddeus Sasser, one of the vocal ones on the undisclosed list of US laid-off employees, called it a “weird industry.”
“My stellar, talented team just helped deliver an incredibly successful new franchise in Marvel Rivals for NetEase Games and were just laid off… times are tough all over,” Sasser said in a LinkedIn post.
Sasser mentioned lead/principal designer Paul Sandler, system designer Jiaxin Chen, senior level designers Cliff Schuldt and Jack Burrows, and technical and level designer Garry Mcgee.
In a LinkedIn post, Mcgee wrote, “My team recently helped develop and launch Marvel Rivals, which turned out to be a bigger hit than any of us expected. Unfortunately, my team was also laid off. Strange times all across the industry indeed.”
Netease Games, which reported a decrease of 1.4 percent in net revenue for the fourth quarter of 2024, said the cuts were made “to optimize development efficiency for the game,” a shocking revelation despite its success in just its first two months.
“This resulted in a reduction of a design team based in Seattle that is part of a larger global design function in support of Marvel Rivals,” NetEase Games said in a statement.
NetEase rep tells me the cut of the Marvel Rivals team in Seattle was a “difficult decision” made “to optimize development efficiency for the game”
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) February 19, 2025
Full statement below
Very unusual move given Rivals’ massive success. But clear focus here is on “core” development in China https://t.co/QDVtySySVy pic.twitter.com/UiWFIhuIks
This confirmed that the Seattle-based team was the only one affected by the layoffs so far. In its latest financial report, the company also boasted that Marvel Rivals topped Steam’s global sellers chart after launch and had over 10 million registered users within 72 hours.
“We are investing more, not less, into the evolution and growth of this game. We’re excited to deliver new superhero characters, maps, features, and content to ensure an engaging live service experience for our worldwide player base,” the statement added.
Season one saw the entire Fantastic Four be brought into the mix while breaking the 40-million-player base.
See Related Article: Marvel Rivals: The Thing, Human Torch join in midseason update
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