Fans have been concerned with it learned that Chinese company NetEase, the company behind the popular smash hit Marvel Rivals video game, has laid off its staff based in Seattle and is closing its U.S. support division.
Nothing to worry about
However, according to reports there is nothing to worry about as the Seattle game developers were not the creative team behind Marvel Rivals, which is based in China.
The Seattle team is said to have been developers that worked on budgets and staff — again NOT creative developers.
NetEase divesting itself of numerous overseas studios
Recently, also saw the report that NetEase plans on divesting itself of numerous overseas studios (which happens to include the developer behind the diverse Star Wars Eclipse game that looks to have been canceled).
Lazy, entitled, slow and woke
According to Grummz on X, insiders filled him in that the reason NetEase is getting rid of a majority of its studios is because the Western developers are “lazy, entitled, slow and woke.”
“Netease isn’t just laying of the 6 person Marvel Rivals team,” tweeted Grummz. “Netease is also pulling funding from Western (and potentially Japanese) gaming studios. The CEO is said to be very unsatisfied with Western developers, calling them ‘lazy, entitled, slow and woke’ according to a source I spoke with.”
Grummz continued with a list of studios adding, “These are huge investments by Netease, founded by top veterans from AAA gaming, and mostly made during the high-flying game demand driven by Covid boredom. A demand which has since contracted.”
He added, “We’ll soon see what studios remain funded, and which are left scrambling for new investors in a climate where, according to my source, it is extremely difficult to find game investors.”
Netease isn't just laying of the 6 person Marvel Rivals team.
— Grummz (@Grummz) February 22, 2025
Netease is also pulling funding from Western (and potentially Japanese) gaming studios. The CEO is said to be very unsatisfied with Western developers, calling them "lazy, entitled, slow and woke" according to a… pic.twitter.com/fA547OOfBV
Marvel Rivals 1.5 is here
Regarding Marvel Rivals, the game continues putting out new content as the latest update brings the full Fantastic Four lineup into the game, with The Thing and Human Torch now available alongside new costumes like “Trench Coat” and “Negative Zone Gladiator.”
Patch 1.5, now live, also introduces the new Convergence map Empire of Eternal Night: Central Park, along with matchmaking and performance optimizations.
Ranked mode sees a split into S1.0 and S1.5, with exclusive rewards like the Blood Shield and Blood Blaze costumes. Console and PC players benefit from enhanced graphics settings, including NVIDIA DLSS 4 and AMD Radeon Anti-Lag 2. Additionally, various hero fixes improve gameplay, addressing issues with Spider-Man’s wall crawl, Hulk’s transformation, and Venom’s ultimate damage.
Marvel Rivals is free-to-play.
