Marvel Rivals Reportedly Almost Sabotaged By NetEase CEO
|
|
- Marvel Rivals CEO almost canceled the game before release.
- He supposedly attempted to swap out Marvel heroes for their own designs to avoid paying Disney.
- Ding claims he can judge a game by looking at it for a couple seconds.
CEO and founder of NetEase Ding Lei reportedly almost canceled Marvel Rivals before it was released. The news was told in an exclusive interview at Bloomberg – the interviewees asked to remain anonymous.
Ding Lei supposedly did not want to pay Disney royalties, which is an inevitability when using Marvel characters in a video game. To counteract this, Ding directed developers to implement their own hero designs, a decision that would have completely destroyed the game’s identity.
Marvel Rivals currently has over 40 million registered players, and has taken over the hero shooter genre. It brought in more than $200 million in revenue in a little over two months, and has a growing esports scene. The game’s widespread success and appeal are largely driven by its highly popular intellectual property — a factor Ding actively tried to avoid during development.
Despite making questionable leadership decisions and not playing games himself, Ding claims he can “tell how a game works by watching it for a couple seconds.”
Workers at NetEase are reportedly worried about the company’s future, with some expressing concern regarding the CEO’s volatility. Ding has a history of frequently canceling video game titles – a pattern that may prevent NetEase from releasing any major titles in the upcoming year.
Ding Lei is a Chinese entrepreneur and founder of NetEase. In 2003 he was China’s richest man, and was one of China’s first internet billionaires. As of February 2025, Ding has an estimated net worth of $33.2 (USD), ranking #56 in the world.
