Marvel Rivals fans could have gotten a whole different game without any Marvel heroes

NetEase Games' hero shooter Marvel Rivals has already attracted over 40 million registered users, but reports suggest that the game might not have existed in its current form. A recent report by Bloomberg claims that there were internal discussions about canceling the game before launch. The report also states that NetEase Games founder and CEO Ding Lei was supposedly hesitant to pay Disney for the rights to use popular Marvel characters.

The game has become a monumental success, generating more than $200 million in revenue since its December 2024 release.

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NetEase Games almost scrapped Marvel Rivals over licensing costs, report

The claim that Marvel Rivals was at risk of cancellation comes from an unnamed source cited by Bloomberg. The source claimed that Ding Lei initially objected to the high licensing costs associated with using Marvel characters. Instead, he encouraged the team to explore the idea of making a game with original heroes to bypass the fees.

This internal shift reportedly cost the company millions before they ultimately moved forward with Marvel’s roster. However, a NetEase spokesperson refuted this claim, insisting that they have maintained a strong partnership with Marvel since 2017.

The report also talks about the challenges developers had to face after release, as despite Marvel Rivals' success, NetEase has been making significant changes to its core team. They recently laid off the entire team in Seattle, including the director — a decision that led to some backlash from the community.

Still, the hero shooter turned out to be a major hit. Following its release, Marvel Rivals quickly amassed millions of players worldwide and became one of NetEase’s most profitable projects. It has since been one of the top games on the Steam charts, attracting hundreds of thousands of concurrent players daily.

While the game has proven to be a financial success for NetEase Games, its development history — if the reports are accurate — shows how uncertain its fate may have been.

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