NetEase Faces Turbulent Times: Workforce Cuts and Project Shelving Amidst Game Development Challenges

NetEase is currently facing significant challenges in its operations. Despite titles like Marvel Rivals contributing positively to revenue gaps, the company continues to struggle in achieving overall success with its game offerings. In light of this precarious situation, the firm, under the leadership of its CEO William Ding, has made the difficult decision to reduce its workforce by several hundred employees. In addition, it has chosen to decrease funding for ongoing initiatives while shelving around a dozen other projects to concentrate efforts on those with the highest potential for immediate success.

Particularly, projects headed by Japanese directors Suda51 from Grasshopper Manufacture and Toshihiro Nagoshi of Nagoshi Studio will proceed, though they will not receive further financial backing or new deadlines for completion. Following the release of these games, there is a tangible risk that the respective studios may face closure as well.

The current approach of NetEase seems to stem from the unpredictable choices made by its CEO. As reported by a major news outlet, Ding has instructed employees to significantly increase their workloads while eliminating lunch breaks, entrusting a fresh wave of finance graduates with leadership roles on game projects. This impulsive strategy likely contributed to recent closures, such as Ouka Games, developers of Visions of Mana, and a support studio for Marvel Rivals in the United States.

The future remains uncertain for NetEase. Will the company regain its footing? Will it persist in its ambition to derive half of its revenues from international markets, or will it shift its focus more towards achieving its targets domestically?