Marvel Rivals Director and Entire Seattle Design Team Laid Off, NetEase Tells Fans Not to Worry About the Game

NetEase, the developer behind the successful mobile game Marvel Rivals, has confirmed layoffs affecting its Seattle-based design team. The cuts, attributed to “organizational reasons” by NetEase, were announced on LinkedIn by game director Thaddeus Sasser, who confirmed his own dismissal along with that of his team. This news comes as a surprise given Marvel Rivals’ significant success since its December launch, boasting over 20 million downloads and high concurrent player counts on Steam.

Sasser’s LinkedIn profile highlights his team’s contributions to game and level design, providing strategic direction for the title over the past two years. While NetEase’s statement confirmed the layoffs, the exact number of affected employees remains undisclosed. The company emphasized that the restructuring aims to optimize development efficiency and that the layoffs will not affect ongoing support for Marvel Rivals. NetEase reassured players that the core development team in Guangzhou, China, led by Weicong Wu and Guangyun Chen, remains fully committed to the game’s future, promising continued investment in new content and features.

This latest round of layoffs follows a pattern of reduced overseas investment and studio closures by NetEase. Previous actions include the shuttering of U.S. and Japan-based studios, such as Ouka Studios (developer of Visions of Mana), and the pausing of operations for Worlds Untold and the cancellation of Jar of Sparks.