Free-to-play shooteren Marvel Rivals er en stor succes for NetEase, da spillet ramte mere end 20 millioner spillere bare et par uger efter udgivelsen og der er typisk dagligt mere end en kvart million samtidige spillere på Steam. Alligevel er teamet i Seattle blevet ramt af fyringer, blandt andet er game director Thaddeus Sasser blevet prikket.
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!
- Thaddeus Sasser, game director, Marvel Rivals
I en post på LinkedIn skriver Thaddeus Sasser, at han var blevet fyret og at han ikke ved, hvor mange der ellers er blevet ramt, men også level designerne Jack Burrows og Garry McGee har været ude og bekræfte, at de også er fyret.
Welp, just got laid off from my job working on Marvel Rivals with NetEase. Was an enormous pleasure to work with my American coworkers who join me in this sad culling. Just couldn't dodge that big boot I guess, no matter how big the success of the gig.
- Jack Burrows, level designer, Marvel Rivals
My team recently helped develop and launch Marvel Rivals, which turned out to be a bigger hit than any of us expected! Unfortunately my team was also laid off. Strange times all across the industry indeed.
- Garry McGee, level designer, Marvel Rivals
Det er i sandhed en underlig branche det her og fyringerne fortsætter åbenbart. Selv om man har været med til at lave et stort hit, kan man ikke være sikker på at beholde sit job.