Marvel Rivals publisher NetEase has renewed its partnership with Blizzard after a lengthy licensing spat, bringing the publisher's games back to China. Overwatch 2 made its official Chinese debut in February, and while you might think a publisher would be skittish putting out two similar games in relatively close proximity, NetEase seems unconcerned.
"The expectations for Overwatch are similar to those for World of Warcraft and Hearthstone," NetEase said in a recent financial Q&A, transcribed by Yahoo Finance and noted by our friends at PC Gamer. "The aim is to revitalize the product and reach new highs. Both Marvel Rivals and Overwatch are excellent superhero shooters, and the market is large enough to accommodate both games. NetEase will strive to meet the diverse demands of their respective player communities."
Marvel Rivals has proven to be a breakout success, drawing in more than 40 million players since launch. The popular narrative around Overwatch 2 is that it's struggled to find success, though Activision Blizzard was bragging of a strong player base all the way back to the FPS sequel's original launch. Regardless, the online gaming community has generally seen Marvel Rivals as something of an "Overwatch killer," and all the momentum is currently with the superhero-themed take on the genre.
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Despite the success of Marvel Rivals, NetEase has still laid off a chunk of the game's devs while insisting "we are investing more, not less, into the evolution and growth of this game." The affected devs were based in the US, and reports suggest that this was part of a broader cutback on global development at NetEase.
Marvel Rivals CEO won't hesitate to pull the plug on more games and studios: "Support for a project may be increased or withdrawn entirely."
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