Marvel Rivals was revealed recently with a grand announcement trailer. The newest title by NetEase Games is a superhero team-based 6v6 PvP shooter, and the trailer includes 18 Marvel characters. There’s no release date revealed yet, but it’s confirmed to be a free-to-play title.
While the reveal garnered a lot of interest from fans, one grim detail about the game’s development has disappointed fans everywhere. A former developer revealed that NetEase never paid a majority of the employees for their work on the title during the early development phase. This isn’t the first time NetEase has been accused of mistreatment by former employees, either.
Marvel Rivals Development Began as a Directionless Project
Marvel Rivals was announced just a couple of days ago, and as has been the case with a lot of NetEase projects lately, the upcoming title is already marred by non-payment issues. This time, the issue has come to light thanks to an ex-employee who was involved in the project in the early stages.
A character concept artist, William Bao, who now works at ID Software, posted on X about having worked at NetEase around four years ago and not having received any payments.
I remember working on this with NetEase over covid, they did not pay for the work I did at the end and it was one of the most directionless project I've ever had the misfortune of working on. https://t.co/INSkx9edZK
— William 巴特尔 ᠪᠣᠷᠵᠢᠭᠢᠨ Bao (@willthebao) March 27, 2024
He goes on to further reveal that the project initially was directionless, as even the reference image provided at one point was “literally a piece of concept art that was trending on artstation on that same day.”
Most of the feedback during concept boiled down to: "look at this thing from this other thing and copy it." At one point the reference image provided was literally a piece of concept art that was trending on artstation on that same day smfh
— William 巴特尔 ᠪᠣᠷᠵᠢᠭᠢᠨ Bao (@willthebao) March 28, 2024
He concluded his thread of posts by stating how he had worked on the project as a young fresher and advised other freshers never to do any “free” art tests, as everyone who works on such art tests deserves to get paid. He mentioned how any free tests done by freshers will automatically become company projects, and hence, these can be used by the studios.
When a reply asked if they ever got paid at all, Bao replied, “Not at all.” He said he started getting suspicious by the beginning of the third week of working on the art tests, with a lot of specific feedback. Bao said no art test lasts that long and wondered just how much free work the developers got out of the whole exercise.
Fans Unsurprised Over Another NetEase Allegation
The post by Bao quickly spawned a discussion post on Reddit, as fans showcased their disappointment over yet another allegation on NetEase but also remained unsurprised. One fan commented, hoping for the upcoming title to “fizzle out,” but another replied, stating the game had the potential for success, given the fact that it’s filled with Marvel characters with an Overwatch model.
Blizzard came under fire for including microtransactions in Overwatch titles and expensive skins. Marvel Rivals looks to follow the same formula, as it has several Marvel characters, as revealed in the announcement trailer.
For now, there are no hints by the developers about a probable release date for the upcoming free-to-play battle royale title, as fans wait to learn more about it and whether or not it will land on consoles.
What are your thoughts on employees still facing payment issues at gaming studios? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
