Marvel Rivals has been a huge hit for NetEase. The Chinese publisher recently reported the free-to-play hero shooter had over 40 million players. But the Overwatch clone was almost canceled over the licensing fees the company would owe to Disney for using its popular comic book characters.
That’s according to a new report by Bloomberg that details some of the “volatility” at the gaming giant over the last year. Per the report, NetEase founder and CEO William Ding almost ditched the project because he “objected to paying Walt Disney Co. for the use of popular characters like Wolverine and Spider-Man.”
Apparently, he even went so far as to have the game’s developers swap in their own hero designs at some point in a temporary pivot that ultimately cost millions in unused work, though NetEase disputes that characterization. A spokesperson for the company told Bloomberg that it has enjoyed a “close partnership” with Marvel since 2017.
The reported tumult on Marvel Rivals prior to launch shows just how different things could have been. While the underlying game is fun, it’s hard to say whether its familiar multiplayer gameplay would have hit the same way if not for the flashy designs for household icons from The X-Men to The Incredible Hulk.
Of course, it’s also well-documented just how expensive licensing deals can be with Disney. Materials leaked in the malicious Insomniac Games hack in 2023 pointed to the potentially hundreds of millions the studio would owe Disney across the sale of multiple X-Men games planned in the years ahead. Last fall, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer told Game File he’s “not the biggest fan” of licensing deals, partially because of the issues it can create for putting games on streaming services or preserving their availability long-term.
Whatever friction there may have been during Marvel Rivals’ development ultimately didn’t keep the game from coming out, although it’s reportedly a part of a broader shift within NetEase, as the company pulls back on gaming investments. That includes the shocking layoffs of Marvel Rivals’ developers earlier this week, when the entirety of the Seattle-based portion of the team was let go (the “core” team remains in China).
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