Marvel Rivals has laid off its US development team - and former employees took to LinkedIn to talk about the situation.
In a both surprising and confusing turn of events, Marvel Rivals has just let go the entire US development team. Here's everything we know so far:
Marvel Rivals Laying Off Employees
Marvel Rivals is still a pretty new game. Released in December 2024, the Super Hero Team-based PVP Shooter in the Marvel Universe became an instant hit and garnered a big community of players. This makes it even more confusing that the US dev team has now been laid off.
For clarification, Marvel Rivals previously had two development teams working side by side: One American team based in Seattle and one core development team based in China. Now, only the Chinese team will continue to work on the game while the American developers are searching for new jobs.
Disappointed Reactions From Former Employees
In a post on LinkedIn, the Game Director of Marvel Rivals, Thaddeus Sasser, has revealed that he's been laid off - together with the entire US development team:
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! Oh well! Times are tough all over - Let's find these incredible people new jobs, because we all need to eat, right? :D - Thaddeus Sasser
Another former employee, Level Designer Jack Burrows, has also made a post about the situation on his own LinkedIn account:
Hey folks! 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
Understandably, their announcements sound pretty disappointed - after all, imagine putting a lot of work into a project, the project being a big success...and then still being laid off. Specific reasons for the lay-off haven't been named so far, so one can only speculate.
On the bright side, the former team is currently seeking new games to work on, so a couple of upcoming titles might be happy to find some top-class employees soon.
What is your opinion on this sudden lay-off? Do you think that Marvel Rivals will change without the influence of the US-based team? Tell us your opinion in the comments!