News from the lovely world of the Games Industry.

[Grey Fox]

It looks really good on high end PCs.

Combat is still incredibly incomprehensible.

[Syt]

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/just-couldnt-dodge-that-big-boot-i-guess-no-matter-how-big-the-success-of-the-gig-marvel-rivals-developers-in-the-us-say-netease-just-laid-off-their-whole-team/

NetEase confirms Marvel Rivals layoffs, says cuts were made 'to optimize development efficiency for the game'

Marvel Rivals is a big hit—the first real challenger to the long-time hero shooter big dog Overwatch. Yet amidst that success, with more than 200,000 people playing on Steam alone right now, NetEase game director Thaddeus Sasser says the Marvel Rivals development team in the US has been laid off.

"This is such a weird industry," Sasser wrote on LinkedIn. "My stellar, talented team just helped deliver an incredibly successful new franchise in Marvel Rivals for NetEase Games...and were just laid off!"

Sasser's LinkedIn profile lists him as a game director at NetEase, working on Marvel Rivals. The game's creative director is Guangyun Chen, better known to players as Guangguang.

Level designer Jack Burrows confirmed the layoffs in a separate post. "Welp, just got laid off from my job working on Marvel Rivals with NetEase," Burrows wrote. "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."

And that's really the heart of the matter: Why would NetEase do this? Marvel Rivals is a major hit and, as reported by Chinese site GameLook (via 80lv), it seems to be making a lot of money—an estimated $136 million in its first month alone.

At the same time, the game is still finding its footing, and as we saw recently with Multiversus, a strong start can fade quickly if the team behind it doesn't stay on top of things. The core Marvel Rivals development team is presumably based in China but even so, cutting off an entire studio at this very early, game-is-a-hit stage is baffling.

Some have speculated that this may have been the plan all along: Get Marvel Rivals spun up, and then cut the team operating it down to the bone. NetEase has been dialing back its US plans in recent months: In November 2024, it ended funding for recently-founded studios Worlds Untold, launched in 2023 by BioWare veteran Mac Walters, and in January it pulled the plug on Jar of Sparks, founded by Halo and Destiny 2 veteran Jerry Hook in 2022. In August 2024, NetEase also reportedly laid off most employees at Ouka Studios, the developer of Visions of Mana, before the game even came out.

NetEase isn't shy about cutting back where and when it deems necessary, in other words, but even in that light this is a weird one. Marvel Rivals is a hit but it's also still in a fragile, formative state, which doesn't seem to me like the time to be laying off developers.

UPDATE: NetEase has now confirmed the layoffs of Marvel Rivals developers in a statement provided to PC Gamer.

"We recently made the difficult decision to adjust Marvel Rivals' development team structure for organizational reasons and to optimize development efficiency for the game," a NetEase representative said. "This resulted in a reduction of a design team based in Seattle that is part of a larger global design function in support of Marvel Rivals. We appreciate the hard work and dedication of those affected and will be treating them confidentially and respectfully with recognition for their individual contributions."

The company added that the core development team in China "remains fully committed to delivering an exceptional experience," and that it is "investing more, not less, into the evolution and growth of this game. We're excited to deliver new super hero characters, maps, features, and content to ensure an engaging live service experience for our worldwide player base."

NetEase didn't say how many employees were put out of work but confirmed that there are now no Seattle-based developers working on Marvel Rivals.

[Valmy]

Do a great job, get fired. Do a shitty job, get fired.

Might as well do a shitty one I guess.

[Josquius]

Read this article today. Hits on my favourite cause.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-uk-games-industry-has-a-class-problem-heres-how-one-organisation-is-trying-to-fix-it

Though seems to fail to address the elephant in the room - salaries are shit.
If you're from a working class background you need a higher salary as that's all you've got to live off.

[Jacob]

So apparently Jared Kushner's private equity firm and the Saudi's are looking to take EA private, with a $50 billion dollar offer.

[Syt]

[Syt]

The deal is final. And looks like EA will be forced to economize in the near future to pay off its new debt:

https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/ea-strikes-a-usd55-billion-deal-to-go-private-in-a-saudi-backed-buyout-just-a-week-before-the-launch-of-battlefield-6/

The $55 billion deal also now cements EA as the biggest ever leveraged buyout, usurping the $45 billion buyout of Texas utility group TXU in 2007. For reference, a leveraged buyout is when a private equity firm uses a large amount of borrowed money to finalise the deal, with what is to be acquired used as collateral in the debt, effectively leaving the bought-out company liable for the debt. The company's future income will be used to repay the debt over a period of time. In this instance, $20 billion of the financing for the buyout comes via a loan from JPMorgan.

[garbon]

I liked comments I saw in the vein of: when you thought EA couldn't get more terrible.

I wonder what will happen with pro-DEI franchises like the Sims.

[The Minsky Moment]

I wonder what will happen with pro-DEI franchises like the Sims.

If being pro DEI can help then squeeze out more millions in micro-transactions they will kumbaya it all the way to the bank.

[Grey Fox]

Usually being a a private company is better for artistic endeavour like video games. Being saddled with 20 billions of debt from your leverage buyout is bad. I expect EA to close within 10 years.

[frunk]

Usually being a a private company is better for artistic endeavour like video games. Being saddled with 20 billions of debt from your leverage buyout is bad. I expect EA to close within 10 years.

I'm guessing it'll get sold off for parts within 5.

[Hansmeister]

I wonder what will happen with pro-DEI franchises like the Sims.

You can get a burka any color you want, as long as it is black.

[Josquius]

Sounds destined to fail anyway. The plan is to cut costs by using more AI.

Then again these are AI games. Already not for the most discerning of customer. As long as they have the proper licenses people will keep buying.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Don't need AI to tweak the player names and stats in the latest Madden/FIFA release.

[Jacob]

I was discussing the EA acquisition with a colleague on the business side of things. Our main conclusions were:

EA makes (business) sense as the target of a highly leveraged buy-out, because their annual income is so predictable due to their sport franchises. Every year the annual updates come out with updated rosters, new kit, and maybe marginal improvements in art and gameplay - and large numbers of people buy them like clockwork. That kind of predictability is great for a leveraged buy-out.

The Saudis are heavily invested in the sport business, and are doing pretty well in generating returns on their investment and in achieving at least some of their soft power objectives. Being heavily involved in the business of sports (not to mention e-sport), makes it a pretty logical move to expand into the adjacent business area of sport video-games. There's without a doubt a significant amount of relevant expertise in their organization(s), and good amount of potential synergies between the relevant businesses as well.