The cancelation of Marvel Rivals was seriously considered prior to its release, despite attracting over 40 million players. CEO William Ding resisted payments to Disney for Marvel characters, and discussions about replacing them with NetEase's own heroes were reported. The layoffs of developers occurred amid ongoing discussions about minimizing costs and improving efficiency within the team. NetEase has also ceased support for numerous gaming projects, raising concerns about future releases. Amidst these developments, the company reassured its ongoing relationship with Marvel despite the changes.
Amidst the abrupt layoffs of some employees who worked Marvel Rivals, it's now reported that the game's cancelation was considered prior to its release.
NetEase CEO William Ding reportedly didn't want to pay Disney for using popular Marvel characters like Spider-Man and Wolverine, and asked artists to replace them.
Ding has also reportedly ended support for about a dozen of other gaming projects, and as a result, NetEase's China-based Studios may not have any big releases next year.
We recently made the difficult decision to adjust Marvel Rivals' development team structure for organizational reasons and to optimize development efficiency for the game.
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