NetEase boss Ding Lei says he’ll “aggressively and decisively discontinue” games that underperform

(Image credit: NetEase)

NetEase CEO Ding Lei has said the company will “aggressively and decisively discontinue” games that don’t pull in the big bucks, just a week after laying off developers who worked on the big buck-printing Marvel Rivals.

The media conglomerate just released its financial results for the fiscal year ending December 30, 2024, where it revealed its games business made around $11 billion and re-emphasized what a huge hit Marvel Rivals has been: “Marvel Rivals topped Steam’s global top sellers chart shortly after its launch on December 6, amassing over 10 million registered users within 72 hours and over 40 million to date.”

But the company also fired the majority of the game’s US-based developers earlier this month as it reportedly looks to slim down teams outside of China. Star Wars Eclipse and Heavy Rain developers Quantic Dream even had to come out and assure fans that it would “remain unaffected” by the turmoil.

When asked about the situation, CEO Ding Lei didn’t do much to assuage fears. “If we launch a game product that isn’t suited for market demand, we will aggressively and decisively discontinue it; we will also boost our investment in projects that meet quality and efficiency standards,” he said during a recent conference call.

“Game production is time-consuming and it may take three or more years to ship a game,” he continued. “So, during the entire process, from the start of the project to its completion, it is critical to constantly adapt to the market. Depending on the circumstances, support for a project may be increased or withdrawn entirely.”