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Marvel Rivals has certainly taken the gaming world by storm this year, attracting a massive following with hundreds of thousands flocking to play on Steam alone. Despite this success, developer NetEase has unexpectedly let go of a team involved in the game’s development at their Seattle studio.
Thaddeus Sasser, the game director, took to LinkedIn to shed light on these layoffs. He specifically mentioned that level designer Garry McGee was among those affected, a detail confirmed by level designer Jack Burrows in his own post.
Sasser expressed his perplexity in his post, writing, “This industry is such a bizarre place. My incredibly talented team just delivered the hugely successful Marvel Rivals for NetEase Games… and now they’ve been laid off!”
The team, according to Sasser, played a crucial role in “developing new level design mechanics, and gameplay mechanics,” for the dynamic superhero shooter.
NetEase addressed the situation in a statement to Polygon, saying, “We recently decided to reorganize Marvel Rivals’ development team structure to enhance organizational efficiency. This led to the reduction of a Seattle-based design team, part of a global design effort supporting Marvel Rivals. We value the hard work and dedication of those affected and are committed to handling the situation with the utmost confidentiality and respect, honoring their unique contributions.
Additionally, we want to reassure our fans that the core team spearheading Marvel Rivals, led by Lead Producer Weicong Wu and Game Creative Director Guangyun Chen in Guangzhou, China, remains steadfast in delivering a top-notch experience. Our investment in the game’s growth and development is stronger than ever. We are thrilled to introduce new superhero characters, maps, features, and content, ensuring an engaging live service experience for our global audience.”
Marvel Rivals stands as one of the top five games with the highest active user count on platforms like PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Steam, according to data from industry analyst Mat Piscatella at Circana. It consistently ranks in the top five most-played games on Steam, often witnessing around 200,000 concurrent players. This week, the game is set to kick off the second half of its inaugural season by introducing two new heroes: the Thing and the Human Torch.
Update (Feb. 19): The post has been updated to include a statement from NetEase.
