NetEase, the Chinese developer of Marvel Rivals, issued a statement explaining its layoffs affecting its Seattle-based team.
On February 18th, Thaddeus Sasser, a Game Director for Marvel Rivals, announced on LinkedIn that his entire Seattle-based team was laid off.
He 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!”
As for what his team did he explained, “A lot of our time on the project was spent as sort of an "R & D" branch, coming up with new level design mechanics, gameplay mechanics, and so on.”
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Following Sasser’s announcement Level Designer Jack Burrows announced he had been laid off too.
He wrote, “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.”
NetEase has now issued a statement offering an explanation for why this Seattle-based team was laid off.
The company informed IGN, “We recently made the difficult decision to adjust Marvel Rivals’ development team structure for organizational reasons and to optimize development efficiency for the game.”
“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 continued. “We appreciate the hard work and dedication of those affected and will be treating them confidentially and respectfully with recognition for their individual contributions.”
Next, it stated, “We want to reassure our fanbase that the core development team for Marvel Rivals, which continues to be led by Lead Producer Weicong Wu and Game Creative Director Guangyun Chen in Guangzhou, China, remains fully committed to delivering an exceptional experience.”
It then shared, “We are investing more, not less, into the evolution and growth of this game. We’re excited to deliver new super hero characters, maps, features, and content to ensure an engaging live service experience for our worldwide player base.”
What do you make of NetEase’s explanation of the layoffs and commitment to more investment in the game?
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It’s very simple. Now that the CCP have a successful product, they no longer need the Western devs.