Feb 21 2025 66 mins
The free-to-play hero arena battler "Marvel Rivals" has hit hard since its release in December, scooping up 40 million players and almost $3 billion in net revenue. So it's totally logical and not weird at all that its Chinese publisher NetEase just laid off the entire U.S. design team. We discuss the weird geopolitical landscape, and why the relatively young games industry still lacks labor protection amid massive profits.
Also, Colette goes hard on "Sworn," a new roguelike that borrows heavily from "Hades" in all the right ways.
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/despite-its-big-success-marvel-rivals-director-and-others-have-been-laid-off/
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/marvel-rivals-has-passed-40-million-players-as-netease-reports-net-revenue-of-2-9-billion/
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