Despite being a free-to-play game, Rivals’ launch has seen NetEase grow by nearly 10% in just the three months since, contributing to CEO Ding ‘William’ Lei’s £32.37bn net worth. Such accumulation of wealth was, as ever, built off the backs of hardworking developers who will never reap the same benefits as Lei.
Sure enough, the studio thanked its workers for their dedication through a wave of layoffs. One entire Seattle-based support division was ‘culled’ – not my words, but those of fired level designer Jack Burrows – and there’s seemingly no guarantee against further cuts.
One entire Seattle-based support division was 'culled'
“My stellar, talented team just helped deliver an incredibly successful new franchise (…) and were just laid off!”, said former NetEase game director Thaddeus Sasser. You aren’t mistaken if you’re feeling a theme developing here…
In an industry, and a wider economic system, that sees workers as expendable, layoffs in game studios aren’t exactly uncommon. Indeed, when the gambles of multi-billion dollar companies during covid backfired, it certainly wasn’t the CEOs who paid the price. Over 8,000 workers in the gaming sector were fired between January and March 2024 alone; a consequence of the shenanigans of those earning multiple times their pay. Take HALO: Infinite, was it the fault of the devs that 343 Industries and XBOX massively rushed the release of the game to coincide its release with that of the Series X/S? No, but you can bet they were scapegoated – as many as 95 were laid off in 2023.
In an industry, and a wider economic system, that sees workers as expendable, layoffs in game studios aren’t exactly uncommon
This situation is unique however, by nature of the game suffering virtually no issues thus far - it’s one of the most popular games on the planet after all. Marvel Rivals’ devs handed their higher-ups unprecedented success on a silver platter, yet were met with redundancy, uncertainty and strife. Imagine Manchester United sacking Sir Alex Fergusson after his side lifted the treble in ’99, and you essentially get the picture.
Developers make games, managers make money. It’s not exactly as groundbreaking a thesis as Marx or Lenin, who by most modern estimates haven’t written for The Courier or played Marvel Rivals. However, it does speak to the reality of an industry that doesn’t care for the workers whose backs the profits of a few are built on.