NetEase releases statement on recent layoffs across US-based team for Marvel Rivals

NetEase recently laid off the US-based design team for Marvel Rivals consisting of six people, leaving everyone wondering what happened. The game saw one of the biggest launches of 2024 failing multiple AAA games and yet, there were job cuts. Commenting on this, the company has now issued a statement.

As noted by Stephentotilo on X (Twitter), the changes were due to organizational reasons. “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,” the statement said.

Marvel Rivals development to remain on track

Despite cutting the entire Seattle studio, NetEase reassured that the player base that the ‘core development team’ in China, featuring Weicong Wu and Guangyun Chen remains intact and that they will be investing more, keeping the development on track.

“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. We are investing more, not less, into the evolution and growth of this game,” NetEase further added.

Also Read:US-based Marvel Rivals development team hit with layoffs despite massive release

Gamers not happy with the decision

Industrywide layoffs in the last few years have left people frustrated with similar news each month as developers take the fall for corporate decisions. The same was the case for the recent Marvel Rivals layoffs where the developers helped deliver a good game yet still met with unfortunate circumstances. While it may not be large, this also adds to the ongoing layoffs count of 2025 which isn’t up to a great start.