NetEase confirmed in February 2025 that it reduced a Seattle-based design team supporting Marvel Rivals. GeekWire reported, citing NetEase, that six U.S. employees were dismissed. The announcement did not say the entire global development team was laid off: NetEase described the Seattle group as part of a larger global design function and said the game’s core development team remained in Guangzhou, China.
What happened to the Marvel Rivals U.S. team?
On February 18, 2025, NetEase said it had adjusted the structure of the Marvel Rivals development team and reduced a design team based in Seattle. GeekWire reported that six U.S. employees were dismissed, attributing that figure to NetEase. Game Developer published the company’s fuller response on February 19.
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The distinction matters: the confirmed announcement concerned a Seattle design group, not a shutdown of all U.S. work on the game or layoffs across every development team. The available reports do not establish what happened to U.S. staffing after the February 2025 reduction, so they cannot confirm the team’s present size.
Why did NetEase say it made the cuts?
NetEase described the change as an organizational decision intended to improve development efficiency. In its statement to GeekWire, a spokesperson said the company had made “the difficult decision to adjust Marvel Rivals’ development team structure for organizational reasons and to optimize development efficiency for the game.” That is the company’s stated rationale; the reports do not provide further detail about the internal restructuring.
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Was the global Marvel Rivals team laid off?
No. NetEase characterized the Seattle design team as part of a larger global design function supporting the game. It said the core development team remained in Guangzhou, China. Game Developer reported that NetEase identified Lead Producer Weicong Wu and Game Creative Director Guangyun Chen as leaders of that core team.
NetEase also said in February 2025 that it remained committed to the game and was investing in its evolution and growth. Those comments describe the company’s position at the time; they do not, by themselves, establish what content was subsequently released or how the organization changed later.
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What did affected employees say?
Employee posts offered a personal account alongside the company’s organizational explanation. Thaddeus Sasser, whom GeekWire identified as a Marvel Rivals game director, wrote on LinkedIn that his team had helped deliver the successful new franchise and had then been laid off. Jack Burrows, identified by PC Gamer as a level designer, also posted that he had been laid off from his role working on the game with NetEase.
These accounts help explain why reports referred broadly to U.S. developers being laid off. For the confirmed scope and headcount, however, the clearest contemporaneous figures are NetEase’s description of a Seattle design-team reduction and the six U.S. dismissals reported by GeekWire.
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What is known about the game’s development?
NetEase Games and Marvel Games announced Marvel Rivals on March 27, 2024, describing it as a team-based player-versus-player shooter in development for PC. The announcement said the game was being developed by a NetEase team with global talent and outlined plans for seasonal heroes and maps. That background helps explain the role of a global development organization, but it does not explain the company’s later staffing decision.
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