Marvel Rivals topped 40 million players before U.S. developers were laid off

Marvel Rivals has surpassed 40 million players worldwide after topping 10 million users within 72 hours of launch.

NetEase shared those milestones in its fiscal report for the year ended December 2024, and revealed the free-to-play hero shooter delivered another “surge” following its Season 1 update in January 2025 to claim the top spot on Steam’s global top-sellers and most-played charts.

Marvel Rivals launched on December 6, 2024, and has seemingly delivered the goods for NetEase. Despite those achievements, the Chinese company laid off a number of Marvel Rivals developers based in the United States earlier this week.

In a statement sent to Game Developer, the company said those cuts were made to “optimize development efficiency” and pledged to continue investing in the title.

Discussing its financial performance, NetEase said net revenue associated with ‘Games and related value-added services’ increased by 1.5 percent during the fourth quarter to $2.9 billion.

Full year revenue within the same segment rose to $11.5 billion in FY24 from $11.2 billion in FY23.

“Net revenues from the operation of online games accounted for approximately 96.2 percent of the segment’s total net revenues for fiscal year 2024, compared with 92.9 percent for fiscal year 2023,” said NetEase.

“Net revenues from mobile games accounted for approximately 72.7 percent of net revenues from the operation of online games for fiscal year 2024, compared with 75.2 percent for fiscal year 2023.

“The change in revenue mix was mainly due to higher net revenues generated by PC games such as Naraka: Bladepoint and licensed titles.“

NetEase CEO William Ding said the company “pushed the boundaries of innovation in 2024” and intends continue expanding its game portfolio.

“Our new hit titles not only redefined gameplay but also set new industry benchmarks, while our legacy franchises gained fresh momentum through striking enhancements in design, storytelling and immersive content,” he added.

“As our diverse game portfolio expands across more genres and engages an ever-growing global audience, we remain dedicated to fostering creativity and collaborating with top talent and strategic partners to shape the next wave of gaming trends.”

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