Layoffs seem to be happening everywhere in the video game industry, but this is one story I definitely wasn’t expecting to write. Today, employees of NetEase Games working on Marvel Rivals have shared that they have been laid off, and the Seattle studio is being shut down.
The news broke on LinkedIn as employees began sharing their stories about being laid off. Game Director Thaddeus Sasser wrote:
“This is such 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!
Oh well! Times are tough all over – Let’s find these incredible people new jobs, because we all need to eat, right? :D”
He went on to share a profile of Garry McGee, a level designer who is one of the many people now looking for a job. Another level designer, Jack Burrows wrote on LinkedIn:
“Hey folks!
Welp, just got laid off from my job working on Marvel Rivals with NetEase.Was an enormous pleasure to work with my American coworkers who join me in this sad culling.
Just couldn’t dodge that big boot I guess, no matter how big the success of the gig.So now I’m seeking a new role and would appreciate your support. If you hear of any opportunities or just want to catch up, please send me a message or comment below. I’d love to reconnect. hashtag#OpenToWork hashtag#YaCantWinThemAll”
Released last year, Marvel Rivals has been a huge success as a hot hero shooter that has taken on the behemoth of Blizzard and the Overwatch franchise. It picked up 10m players in its first 72 hours, and it has been going strong since with players flocking to the hero shooter featuring some of their favorite super heroes.
The move comes as Netease has been downsizing a lot of its operations outside of China, and studios it has backed. It has impacted a number of other studios that they previously backed such as Liquid Swords (from the creator of Just Cause ), Ouka Studios (released Visions of Mana), and Untold Worlds (from Bioware alumni Mac Walters)
This continues a trend over the last few years where we’ve been seeing massive layoffs. In this case, it seems that even a commercially, massively successful hit isn’t enough to stop a company from deciding that they might be able to get people working on it cheaper somewhere else.
