Marvel Rivals Success Story Follows An Unexpected Twist Of Layoffs

The news was revealed through a series of social media posts by now-former NetEase employees. One such member, Thaddeus Sasser, Game Director at NetEase Games for almost two years, has expressed his thoughts on LinkedIn. In the post, he says:
Level designer Jack Burrows also shared a post saying, ” I just got laid off from my job working on Marvel Rivals with NetEase.” As he continues, it is clear that the whole Seattle-based team working on Marvel Rivals has now been laid off.

NetEase Confirms Marvel Rivals Layoffs

While this news comes as a shocker, there were initially no reasons behind it all. However, in a statement to PC Gamer, NetEase has clarified its position. The company mentioned: While the company states that the core development team in China remains fully operation, it’s still sad news for the U.S division. We must remember that Marvel Rivals hit its all-time high concurrent player record. With that, the Marvel Rivals player count on Steam alone was breathing down the necks of the great CS2 and Dota 2.
While shooters get a new life with games like Marvel Rivals, the gaming industry’s layoffs are not going anywhere.
Regarding the Marvel Rivals layoffs, Mat Piscatella on Bluesky says, “Marvel Rivals is currently among the top 5 games in US weekly active users across PS5, XBS and Steam, according to Circana’s Player Engagement Tracker.” He continues, “I dunno, folks. I just don’t know.” What are your thoughts on Marvel Rivals development team layoffs despite it being a huge success? Do tell us in the comments.