193 'Marvel Rivals' Made $3 Billion. So Why Did the Entire U.S. Team Get Fired?
Plus: The co-op Hades-like we've been waiting for.
Colette & Matt Have Entered the Chat
Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (cdn.simplecast.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.
Show Notes
The free-to-play hero arena battler "Marvel Rivals" has hit hard since its release in December, scooping up 40 million players and almost $3 billion in net revenue. So it's totally logical and not weird at all that its Chinese publisher NetEase just laid off the entire U.S. design team. We discuss the weird geopolitical landscape, and why the relatively young games industry still lacks labor protection amid massive profits.
Also, Colette goes hard on "Sworn," a new roguelike that borrows heavily from "Hades" in all the right ways.
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/despite-its-big-success-marvel-rivals-director-and-others-have-been-laid-off/
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/marvel-rivals-has-passed-40-million-players-as-netease-reports-net-revenue-of-2-9-billion/
Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/5xz84B9RRJ
Subscribe to the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ColetteAndMatt
Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! [email protected]
Follow and subscribe to Colette:
Follow and subscribe to Matt:
- https://bsky.app/profile/mattsilverman.bsky.social
- https://www.patreon.com/influencepod
- https://www.youtube.com/c/freedadvideos
Our theme music is by Azure Flux: https://azureflux.bandcamp.com/
Our logo is illustrated by @JustCallMeKatarina: https://www.instagram.com/justcallmekatarina/