Following NetEase’s termination of the entire Seattle development team for Marvel Rivals, which reportedly affected six people, and subsequent reports suggesting the company plans to shut down over a dozen studios outside of China, NetEase CEO Ding Lei addressed the future of the studio’s gaming division, revealing that they have no hesitation in canceling any game that doesn’t meet the expectations of its target audience.
NetEase
Shared during NetEase’s latest earnings conference call (timecode 00:59:20), first spotted by ResetEra user Ceerious and translated from Chinese by 80 Level for additional clarity, Lei’s statement discusses the studio’s approach to game development, highlighting that throughout the entire development cycle, they pay close attention to the future model, quality, and production efficiency of the project and are ready to make necessary adjustments to meet the needs of “market users,” a.k.a. the gaming community.
If, before a game’s launch, it’s determined that it may not meet the users’ expectations, NetEase is ready to “actively and decisively put the brakes” on it, reallocating their resources to other, more promising projects.
When we allocate resources to different studios, such as the R&D resources and investment, we attach great importance to the future model, quality, and production efficiency of the project, and make appropriate adjustments. If some projects are found to be possibly unsuitable for market users’ needs when they are launched in the future, we will actively and decisively put the brakes on them,” the CEO said. “But if we find some projects have high quality and efficiency, we’ll invest more resources in them. So, it all depends on if the quality of the project can meet the expectations of its future users.”
Lei also emphasized the importance of continuously adapting to the demands of the future market during a game’s development, stating that it is one of NetEase’s principles to invest more when needed and to halt funding if necessary.
“It takes long to deliver a game, usually around three years or even longer. Therefore, from the moment the project is created, as well as during the development process, it’s necessary to constantly adapt to the demand of the future market. It’s one of our rules to invest more where necessary and to stop where needed.”
While the idea of “paying attention to the market, investing in promising projects, and not funding those that aren’t” may seem logical and intuitive to most, the CEO’s statement might also be construed as unnerving, not least because the only publicly available translation of Lei’s words, shared by Ceerious, overlooks the fact that Lei was specifically referring to games that have not yet been released and that, before discontinuing a project, the team tries to make adjustments to meet players’ needs.
As it stands, NetEase’s position is a typical “matter of perspective” situation, where developers might feel disheartened by the sword of Damocles hanging over them, while regular gamers may be pleased that their needs are prioritized by such a large developer.
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