Marvel Rivals, one of the more successful games of the last year, has seen its development staff hit with layoffs. According to multiple posts on social media, publisher NetEase has laid off an entire Marvel Rivals development team.
Marvel Rivals’ game director Thaddeus Sasser took to LinkedIn to reveal the news on Tuesday afternoon.
UPDATE 7:20PM ET: More details have come out to claim that none of the main development team in China has been part of the layoffs. The only layoffs have happened to the team in the United States
“This is such a weird industry…” Sasser wrote. “My stellar, talented team just helped deliver an incredibly successful new franchise in Marvel Rivals for NetEase Games…and were just laid off!”
Based on his wording, it’s unclear if Sasser was included in the layoffs or if it was just his team. Insider Gaming reached out for comment, but Sasser declined.
According to Sasser’s profile, his team—which is based in Seattle, Washington—focused on game and level design.
One member of his team, a level designer from the game, Jack Burrows, confirmed he was part of the layoffs. No reason was shared by either party for the cuts.
Insider Gaming has also reached out to NetEase for comment on the layoffs and how many people are being let go. Should a response to any outstanding questions be received, they will be added to this story.
Since its release, Marvel Rivals has been at the top of the player count charts on Steam. The game peaked at 644,269 on the platform while it continues to average over 255,000 people per day on Steam alone.
Developing story…
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Not a problem eventually they should move away from Marvel Rivals. They need to sign more names at NetEase buy Bokeh, buy Kamuy Inc, and hire Yu Suzuki, Tomonobu Itagaki and Seiichi Ishii.