Following developer accounts of layoffs at the Marvel Rivals studio, publisher NetEase has today confirmed those job losses, while providing some clarity on the situation in a new company statement (thanks, PC Gamer).
In that statement, Chinese game maker NetEase formally announced that a Seattle-based studio that helped bring Marvel Rivals to life has been let go in its entirety. NetEase says this was a "difficult decision" to make, despite the game's huge success so far.
"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."
The team went on to say that it "remains fully invested" in Marvel Rivals, while also confirming that no Seattle-based developers are working on the game anymore. We wish all those affected the best and hope they land on their feet ASAP.
Elaborating on that 'huge success' comment for a moment - while we don't know the data that NetEase has on Marvel Rivals' performance, the public-facing optics look pretty good. The game is currently the fifth most played game on the entire Steam platform with over 300k concurrent players today - and with NetEase saying that it's "investing more, not less, into the evolution and growth of this game", it's clearly doing well enough to get further support from the Chinese developer.
Thoughts on this latest industry news, folks? Talk to us about it down below.
[source pcgamer.com]
Comments 21
These, and Crisis 4 on hold because Crytek suffer layoffs too, just goes to show how harsh the terrain is, and has been, for a long while now in the gaming sector. Game dev is more expensive than ever and the costs continue to soar - and we gamers haven't helped (boycotting loot boxes, MXTs, and DLCs, moaning about price hikes, and more beyond) when they've found ways to try and claw back more money.
It's a messy time for sure - and although not related, I suspect this is one of the many reasons MS is shifting to multiplat and tearing down barriers. Hopefully those affected land on their feet.
@Kaloudz totally agree. Job protection > exclusivity
@Kaloudz Gamers definitely aren't boycotting loot boxes, DLC and MTX in large numbers. The vocal minority here might complain about them but that doesn't stop them selling. These make at least as much revenue as all full game sales and certainly more profit.
E.g. Sony actually breaks this down and last quarter made 50.45% of their revenue from games via DLC, MTX etc. compared to 41.14% via full Digital Games, 5.66 via Physical and 2.75% via other platforms like PC.
@Coletrain Job protection > exclusivity
Exactly this!
It's why Square, a long-standing third party studio that has predominantly been exclusive in its output, has finally said that multiplat is the way forward for them.
I don't play this game myself (MR) but I always see it ranking in the top three for free-to-play games. This news of layoffs is quite the surprise.
@themightyant I remember going all the way back to AC Origins, how much it blew up the internet, that it had loot boxes, and (I believe) Shadow of Mordor, was it? On top of several others.
Even if boycotting isn't taking place, the media pushback has very well made some devs turn around and edit their games to remove or alter these inclusions based off feedback.
I mean hell, when the inclusion of loot boxes (or did the media call it child gambling?) becomes the focal point of discussion rather than the game itself, that says something. So much so that I recall Witcher 3 dev making a snide comment about "all this day one dlc is free" - even though they could have just left it in the game as part of the game rather than spin it off as dlc.
Wow, so NetEase rewards the studio contributing to arguably the most successful new live-service game in recent years by shutting it down? Cool, good work NetEase.
@Kaloudz This is the difference between the vocal minority online and the masses who make up the gaming landscape. Things 'blowing up the internet' are often tiny in the whole scheme of things.
A small number online complain and a few might actually boycott the game (but probably won't, see below) but the millions of players who never touch a gaming forum simply don't care enough. MTX, DLC are bigger business than actual games - though obviously can't survive without them.
Additionally a lot of vocal gamers are spineless, their bark is worse than their bite. There was a hilarious example of this when a group of vocal gamers formed a thread on Steam's forum where they were moaning about a game introducing loot boxes, they were all apparently outraged and all said they were going to boycott the game.
What they didn't think about was Steam shows what game you were currently playing and on release day basically all of them had bought and were playing the game... so much for a boycott. But there are so many other examples of this.
What people say and what they actually do often aren't the same thing
Mass layoffs? It was six people.
live-service is a extremely hard type of game to find success in so I don't understand how a very successful one leads to layoffs.
I'm reminded of Nintendo's policy with some of their F2P titles on Nintendo 3DS. As an example, You were given Pokemon Picross for free, with a premium currency, but there was a specific difference. Namely that the amount you could buy had a very very specific amount.
Once you'd spent up to the hardcoded limit, the game changed it's payment model permanently, and never asked for a single cent more. Ever.
People dislike constant MTX on paid games, but accept it's a requirement for F2P games. But more and more paid games are garnishing with MTX and loot boxes, and THAT is what's making people push back more than they need to.
@beltmenot my guess is either this team was responsible for something in earlier development that is no longer needed (extra help for specific deliverables) or was replaced by expanding another team in a lower cost region
@RentedPanda I see. It makes a bit more sense now.
“Mass US layoffs”
According to reports the US marvel rivals team support team consisted of 6 people.
@Kaloudz
I agree with your post entirely but there is also another part to the story which is that publishers/developers for too long have shipped incomplete or bug ridden games to gaming customers. I don't think a lot of people would push back on the costs so much if gaming publishers/developers shipped relatively bug free and complete games on day one. I for one, have been seriously tainted by games shipping in a much less than ideal state. Put out quality content on a consistent basis and I would buy a significant amount more. Right now it is almost like gambling when you buy a game on day one... Is this going to be a treat or a major disappointment because the publisher/developer brought it out a year too early?
Can't say I would want to work in the gaming industry. Job losses & likely more with AI.
@themightyant I understand your point bud, and agree with it. I was aiming more towards devs that have back-peddled through media pressure, which has, a lot of the time, been fuelled by communities (and masses social media acolytes) doing nothing but spamming negativity when such announcements are / were made. There have been undeniable pushbacks.
@NeoRatt That I can totally get behind. There's nothing worse than dropping an X amount of money, only to find a game doesn't run the way that it should. Especially digital games. I picked up Mafia 2 remastered and could not (just an hour into the game) progress due to a game breaking bug. Could not get a refund or anything due to simply launching it. I do fully agree with that point and think there should be more consumer protection on that front.
I was shocked, until I found out it's like only 6 people. I feel bad that they lost their job, but do we even know what they did on the game?
*edit: If anything, we should keep mentioning the people that Xbox layed off, that's far worse and had more consequences for way more people.
The race to the bottom every company is taking part in right now. Who wouldn't shift to lower cost labor abroad if they were just as qualified or slightly more or less qualified than someone with a higher budget? Sucks for those investing their lives into becoming game devs only to have this happen.
@Kilamanjaro
Nintendo and Konami have actually given all their employees raises.
But I get what you're saying. They're the exception, and a tiny one at that.
@Utena-mobile true, I probably over generalized, there are just so many layoffs. I'm all for taking care of your employees during the bad times so when it's good they don't lose a step
@Kilamanjaro That's ok. It's kind of hard to be optimistic right now. lol.
Nintendo is doing pretty well though. I guess most of the negativity is with Xbox and Playstation. And Konami I guess was doing so poorly that anything good right now (Silent Hill 2 Remake) is enough to raise their company? I don't know. We live in interesting times.
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