All articles tagged with #netease
Anchor Point Studios, launched by NetEase, is transitioning to operate as an independent studio, led by Paul Ehreth with offices in Barcelona and Seattle, and is seeking investors and partners to advance its action-adventure projects; the move follows NetEase’s broader pattern of spinning out Western studios, as the company reports 2025 gaming revenue growth.
Marvel Rivals is planning to curb “lord farmers” by adding a combat-behavior detection system that can issue warnings, short-term suspensions, and permanent bans to players who AFK-farm stats to boost hero proficiency, a problem tied to the game’s cosmetic-reward system; NetEase has moved quickly to address feedback, and the player community has largely welcomed tougher enforcement as a remedy for disrupted matches and unfair pacing on regional servers as Deadpool’s release boosted activity.
Deadpool is joining NetEase’s online shooter Marvel Rivals, arriving Feb. 16 with a versatile kit that can switch him between tank, DPS, and healer and even pull a comic-book moment mid‑match. The Season 6 update, Night at the Museum, starts Jan. 16, adding more content and fixes as Deadpool’s unpredictable gameplay looms on the horizon. The piece notes Marvel Rivals’ growth and a prior round of layoffs at NetEase, underscoring Deadpool as a standout, much-anticipated addition to the roster.
NetEase’s Marvel Rivals adds Deadpool as the newest hero who can switch mid‑match between three archetypes—Vanguard, Duelist, and Strategist—while featuring a unique progression system that levels up abilities and charges the ultimate via a stylish, combat-focused mechanic. He arrives with the game’s next season on January 16, and his versatile kit could shake Rivals’ current meta.
The development of a new Warhammer MMO by Jackalyptic Games, led by veteran MMO developer Jack Emmert, has been canceled after NetEase ended its partnership, leaving the project in limbo and marking a setback for Warhammer online gaming.
NetEase has previewed Gambit and Rogue as upcoming heroes in Marvel Rivals Season 5, with their stylized looks revealed through enhanced images. Gambit is expected to be a Duelist and Rogue a Vanguard, with their official movesets and skins, including Rogue's 'Savage Land' outfit, likely to be revealed soon. The game continues its rapid release schedule amid declining player counts, raising concerns about its long-term stability.
NetEase has shut down its Canadian subsidiary Bad Brain Game Studios due to the inability to secure a new partner for its ongoing project, Midnight Riders, with the studio closing on November 17, 2025. The studio's IP is available for acquisition or partnership, and this marks the second NetEase subsidiary closure this week, reflecting challenges in its game development efforts.
Bad Brain Game Studios, founded by former Ubisoft developers, is shutting down on November 17 due to lack of funding after Netease withdrew support, marking another setback for Western-focused game studios in China.
NetEase's MMO studio Fantastic Pixel Castle, led by former WoW designer Greg Street, is shutting down after failing to secure additional funding, with the studio's flagship project, Ghost, still in early development. The closure reflects broader industry challenges, including layoffs and strategic shifts by major gaming companies in 2025.
Marvel Rivals, a live-service multiplayer game from NetEase, has experienced an 85% drop in players within 10 months, raising concerns about its long-term viability amid rapid content updates and stiff competition in the genre.
NetEase's Ananta, an ambitious anime open-world game inspired by titles like Spider-Man and GTA, has shown impressive progress in a recent hands-on preview, featuring diverse gameplay mechanics, a trendy urban setting, and a free-to-play model with cosmetic monetization. The game aims to deliver regular updates and a high-quality experience that could challenge traditional AAA games and gacha markets.
NetEase's upcoming game Ananta is set to revolutionize free-to-play gaming by eliminating character gacha mechanics, instead allowing players to unlock characters through gameplay and purchase cosmetics, which could significantly disrupt the market.
Destiny: Rising, a new game set in an alternate universe of Bungie's Destiny series, has launched on mobile and PC, offering fresh characters, weapons, and locations, with positive early impressions and a planned season called Daybreak.
NetEase is launching Destiny Rising, a mobile game set in the Destiny universe that introduces new gameplay elements and characters, potentially cannibalizing Destiny 2's player base due to its engaging features and gacha monetization, despite being a non-canon mobile adaptation.
NetEase's Marvel Rivals may introduce original characters alongside classic Marvel heroes, with the team having the green light from Marvel to do so, though no specific new heroes have been confirmed yet.