Despite having a major hit on their hands with Marvel Rivals, NetEase has decided to layoff a part of the team that made it happen as part of a shift away from having US-based workers – per industry analyst Daniel Ahmad. The game’s continued support will revolve around the core development team in China going forward.
Updated: Added details on studio size.
Studio director Matthew Sassler broke the news on his LinkedIn (via Resetera), writing:
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!
He went on to sing the praises of co-worker Garry McGee, who was working “as sort of an “R & D” branch, coming up with new level design mechanics, gameplay mechanics, and so on.”
Level designer Jack Burrows also confirmed that they have been laid off, and it seems that this has affected exclusively a US-based design team, when the initial framing of the news suggested that NetEase was making a more dramatic cut.
It’s not clear how many developers were a part of NetEase’s Seattle team, though there’s some reporting that this was a micro-studio of just six employees – via Second Wind Group’s Nick Calandra. Still, if part of a wider shift, this could affect other NetEase teams in LA and Texas.
In a statement to WCCFTech, NetEase says:
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. We appreciate the hard work and dedication of those affected and will be treating them confidentially and respectfully with recognition for their individual contributions.
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. We’re excited to deliver new superhero characters, maps, features, and content to ensure an engaging live service experience for our worldwide player base.
A factor here will almost certainly have been the cost of labour in different parts of the world. Compared to the salaries that US-based developers hold (and particularly those in affluent tech hubs like Seattle), the “core” team in China will be much cheaper by comparison. Of course, this very much comes off as though the US devs have been quickly discarded once all their usefulness has been reached… which is pretty much par for the course in an industry where outsourced labour has become increasingly prevalent. It’s somewhat ironic that it’s the US developers feeling the effects of this, as opposed to those in Asia.
Hopefully all those affected will be able to find fresh work soon, and having a hit like Marvel Rivals on their resume certainly won’t hurt.
Source: Resetera, WCCFTech
