With the somewhat recent explosive launch of Marvel Rivals in memory it might be a big surprise to learn that the game was almost scrapped by NetEase just before the game launched. Now that it has been nearly 2 months since the game came out it sounds completely ludicrous that it would even be considered to scrap Marvel Rivals.
Nearly Canceled
But oddly enough this was the case with Marvel Rivals which highlights the game’s rather tumultuous development with the game only being saved near the game’s launch. According to a Bloomberg report NetEase’s was facing some serious cutbacks that nearly ended with Marvel Rivals on the chopping block.
The article claims that the company’s founder and CEO, William Ding, had second thoughts about paying Disney for the use of some of their popular characters, such as Spider-Man and Wolverine. They were apparently considering this so that they could shrink and cut “bloat” to compete with there rivals like MiHoYo and Tencent.
“objected to paying Walt Disney Co. for the use of popular characters like Wolverine and Spider-Man, and at one point asked his artists to swap in their own hero designs.”
The Bloomberg source also tells us that the whole game was nearly cut “There were discussions about it being canceled.”
What NetEase Had to Say
NetEase has claimed that these claims were false in a statement to Bloomberg that the company has enjoyed a close relationship with Marvel since 2017. They probably denied these claims as the news about the Developers in the US is still fresh in people’s memories and they don’t want any more bad press.
