Over the last few years, there have been countless layoffs and closures. In every situation, you look at the higher-ups at these corporations try to spin a tale of how their teams underperformed in one way or another and that they have to “restructure” to better prepare their business for the future. Out of the thousands of people to lose their jobs recently, we would say the Marvel Rivals layoffs are the most baffling.
Today, Thaddeus Sasser posted on his LinkedIn that an entire team focused on game and level design was laid off by NetEase, just hours after posting an update for the midseason updates coming this week, including the release of the Human Torch and The Thing. As of this writing, we do not know the exact number of people affected.
Why was Marvel Rivals hit with layoffs?
There have been thousands of jobs lost in the game industry in the last couple of years, but Marvel Rivals is definitely one that stands out. Since its full launch in December, the game has been a bonafide success. In fact, according to Circana’s Mat Piscatella, it is currently in the top five for most played games across PS5, Xbox, and Steam, and it’s number one on Steam. It’s also near the top of the most streamed and viewed games on Twitch. We don’t know about the money it has made, but by every metric we can tell on the outside, the game has succeeded in every way in a landscape where Fortnite eats up the live service market.
Needless to say, the Marvel Rivals layoffs don’t make sense right now. Definitely pay attention in the coming days for more news to come out on this situation. If one of the highest performing games available isn’t enough for higher-ups to keep their successful workers, then the gaming industry is in an even worse spot than we thought.
