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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Announced during NetEase‘s financial results on Thursday, the company said the hero shooter topped Steam‘s global top sellers charts in December, and saw 10 million registered users in its opening three days across all platforms. The game returned to the top of the chart in January following the game’s season 1 update.

Elsewhere in its financial results, NetEase announced that games and related services net revenues were RMB21.2 billion (US$2.9 billion) for the three months ended December 31, an increase of 1.5% compared with the same quarter of 2023.

NetEase announced the results days after it laid off several developers, including the game’s director.

Earlier this week, NetEase’s California-based game director Thaddeus Sasser claimed that an unspecified number of Marvel Rivals’ American developers had been let go, including himself.

In a statement to VGC, NetEase said that it “recently made the difficult decision to adjust Marvel Rivals’ development team structure for organizational reasons and to optimize development efficiency for the game.”

When Marvel Rivals released its first season last month, the game saw 644,269 players play the game concurrently, launching it to number 14 in Steam‘s all-time highest concurrent player counts.

This is higher than other popular titles like Apex Legends, Path of Exile 2, Helldivers 2, and GTA 5.

These results arrive as it’s believed NetEase could be pulling out of its development efforts in North America.

Positives

• Gaming segment revenue increased 1.5% YoY to RMB21.2 billion
• Marvel Rivals achieved over 40 million registered users
• Where Winds Meet reached 15 million players across platforms
• Annual revenue grew to RMB105.3 billion from RMB103.5 billion
• Net cash position increased to RMB131.5 billion from RMB110.9 billion YoY

Negatives

• Overall Q4 revenue decreased 1.4% YoY to RMB26.7 billion
• Youdao revenue declined 9.5% YoY
• Cloud Music revenue dropped 5.3% YoY
• Innovative businesses revenue fell 17.0% YoY
• Gross profit decreased 3.3% YoY to RMB16.3 billion

Source - Stocktitan & VGC

 

[Felessan]

Where is WWM global...

 

[Mahavastu]

wasn't there news yesterday that the company kicked out most of the Marvel Rival devs?
That happened despite having 40Mio players? How many players would they need to have a secure job for a while?

 

[Felessan]

wasn't there news yesterday that the company kicked out most of the Marvel Rival devs?
That happened despite having 40Mio players? How many players would they need to have a secure job for a while?

Whatever news you reading it's better stop and forget that source forever

They kicked like 5 outsourced expats they no longer need. Main studio is just fine, nothing to worry there

 

[Herbspiceguy]

Guilty, I bought the season pass.

 

[Physiognomonics]

Chinese should direct the Marvels movies too. The first Marvels (like Iron Man, Thor 1) were good but now they all suck.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

If people can look at Marvel Rivals and not understand the push for GaaS... they're purposefully being ignorant of reality...

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

If people can look at Marvel Rivals and not understand the push for GaaS... they're purposefully being ignorant of reality...

i don't think the actual money made is impressive at all. i think is shockingly low

 

[MayauMiao]

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Positives

• Gaming segment revenue increased 1.5% YoY to RMB21.2 billion
• Marvel Rivals achieved over 40 million registered users
• Where Winds Meet reached 15 million players across platforms
• Annual revenue grew to RMB105.3 billion from RMB103.5 billion
• Net cash position increased to RMB131.5 billion from RMB110.9 billion YoY

Negatives

• Overall Q4 revenue decreased 1.4% YoY to RMB26.7 billion
• Youdao revenue declined 9.5% YoY
• Cloud Music revenue dropped 5.3% YoY
• Innovative businesses revenue fell 17.0% YoY
• Gross profit decreased 3.3% YoY to RMB16.3 billion

is this shit supposed to be impressive? numbers are weak AF

 

[Felessan]

If people can look at Marvel Rivals and not understand the push for GaaS... they're purposefully being ignorant of reality...

Another delusional breaker is that Netease has actually 2 new successful gaas games in one year

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Whatever news you reading it's better stop and forget that source forever

They kicked like 5 outsourced expats they no longer need. Main studio is just fine, nothing to worry there

All true but the headline did the damage intended, forget the facts and all no one reads the actual articles

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Another delusional breaker is that Netease has actually 2 new successful gaas games in one year

You look at the list of successful GaaS games in 2024, and the list is kind of massive.

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

Not surprised with how good the game looked as well as actually making good looking characters and skins which keeps the interest up. Well deserved success.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Concord easily could’ve had that many players if Hermen didn’t pull the plug so soon.

 

[Davevil]

 

[MiguelItUp]

All true but the headline did the damage intended, forget the facts and all no one reads the actual articles

Very true. The amount of chaos that spread from that was wild and impressive, lol. All the while the core team was not affected at all, so nothing would really happen to the game itself. But the news itself has affected it to a degree. Though I'm sure the game will be more than fine.

 

[BbMajor7th]

If people can look at Marvel Rivals and not understand the push for GaaS... they're purposefully being ignorant of reality...

Everyone knows when it works it fucking prints money. People just dislike the cynical money-grubbing nature of it and the fact that it makes gaming fairly disposable. New stuff comes and goes and once it leaves the service it's probably gone forever. Once it stops making money, the whole thing might vanish for good. It's kinda sad to watch your favourite hobby become slot-machine-style diversion only allowed to exist if it keeps paying the bills.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Everyone knows when it works it fucking prints money. People just dislike the cynical money-grubbing nature of it and the fact that it makes gaming fairly disposable. New stuff comes and goes and once it leaves the service it's probably gone forever. Once it stops making money, the whole thing might vanish for good. It's kinda sad to watch your favourite hobby become slot-machine-style diversion only allowed to exist if it keeps paying the bills.

Someone's spending their time and money on this stuff... obviously.

I used to play Madden when I was younger. I no longer play and haven't played in over 10 years. I get why people would play it but I think it is trash. The same pretty much goes for all sports games, of which again I used to be a major fan.

As soon as we start thinking only the games we personally play have a space, I think we've gone too far.

 

[BbMajor7th]

Someone's spending their time and money on this stuff... obviously.

I used to play Madden when I was younger. I no longer play and haven't played in over 10 years. I get why people would play it but I think it is trash. The same pretty much goes for all sports games, of which again I used to be a major fan.

As soon as we start thinking only the games we personally play have a space, I think we've gone too far.

Live services are a bit different. You didn't have traditional game publishers eyeballing Madden back in the day and saying 'we need to transform our business to an annual sports franchise model, that's where the money is'. That's what you do see now and it's different - live services are so lucrative potentially that big publishers are straining on the lead to convert every IP in their portfolio to a live service model. For people who don't enjoy online multiplayer games, it's a bit disappointing.

 

[dottme]

I enjoy the game. But sorry, I didn't spend any money on it.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Live services are a bit different. You didn't have traditional game publishers eyeballing Madden back in the day and saying 'we need to transform our business to an annual sports franchise model, that's where the money is'. That's what you do see now and it's different - live services are so lucrative potentially that big publishers are straining on the lead to convert every IP in their portfolio to a live service model. For people who don't enjoy online multiplayer games, it's a bit disappointing.

You don't think that's how we ended up with yearly releases for CoD?

Sports games are pretty much the origin of live service...

 

[yurinka]

Wtf, they made $2.9 billion in a quarter and this is just a 1.5% yoy increase for them.

wasn't there news yesterday that the company kicked out most of the Marvel Rival devs?

They didn't kick out most of the Marvel Rivals devs.

Apparently they only kicked out a couple small US based support teams that the game had, even if one of them included the game director.

The producer and creative director (who work in their main studio in China) will take the game direction tasks for the post launch support.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

The market is saturated.

WHY AREN'T THEY LISTENING?!?!

 

[Arsic]

I’m GM1 rank which puts me in the top 1% of the player base.

Take that 39 million some scrubs. There is no timeline in which Arsics Magneto yields!

 

[BennyBlanco]

I enjoy the game. But sorry, I didn't spend any money on it.

Same and I do not feel compelled to at all.

 

[dezzy8]

i don't think the actual money made is impressive at all. i think is shockingly low

2 billion in 3 months? Are you a square enix exec or something?

 

[A.Romero]

I've played a couple of hours so far. I'm not big on MP so sorry if it's a stupid question: Isn't this basically an overwatch skin?

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

2 billion in 3 months? Are you a square enix exec or something?

that's not impressive at all.

End Game or Avatar made like 3 Billion

 

[mckmas8808]

If people can look at Marvel Rivals and not understand the push for GaaS... they're purposefully being ignorant of reality...

So how many companies will be able to get their hands on an IP as great as Marvel's?

 

[PatientGamer]

Marvel Rivals is the antithesis of current video games.

make hot characters in a highly regarded IP = make money.

It really is quite simple.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

i don't think the actual money made is impressive at all. i think is shockingly low

Since they're not going to balance heroes and stuff(afaik), seems effort is very low as well.

 

[Ainem Enamas]

We here at NeoGAF all like Spider-Man

 

[Generic]

Marvel Rivals is the antithesis of current video games.

make hot characters in a highly regarded IP = make money.

It really is quite simple.

Fortnite have been doing this for 8 years.

 

[Arsic]

that's not impressive at all.

End Game or Avatar made like 3 Billion

This game will be around for years and will be making its lifetime dollars be exponentially higher than those two movies likely combined.

In this cutthroat industry to break in with a GaaS like title, where people keep saying hero shooters are wasted effort because of over watch, this game went and killed over watch.

This game is a mega success and to deem it otherwise is just out of touch and uninformed.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

This game will be around for years and will be making its lifetime dollars be exponentially higher than those two movies likely combined.

Disney isn't spending money on those movies anymore, as their production is over, while GaaS games are still in ongoing production.

Lifetime dollars will be exponentially higher... just as its production cost.

in this cutthroat industry to break in with a GaaS like title, where people keep saying hero shooters are wasted effort because of over watch, this game went and killed over watch.

you just triggered Men_In_Boxes.

This game is a mega success and to deem it otherwise is just out of touch and uninformed.

ChatGPT:
In the games-as-a-service (GaaS) or free-to-play (F2P) model, a small percentage of players make in-game purchases, generating significant revenue. Here's a breakdown:

• Payers (Monetized Users): Typically, 0.5% to 6% of players spend money on in-game items, depending on the game's quality and mechanics.
  
• Whales (High Spenders): A small fraction of players contribute a substantial portion of the revenue. For instance, in "World of Warcraft," about 5% of the player base paid 20 times more than the average revenue per user, sustaining ongoing development.
  
  
• Non-Payers: The majority of players, often over 90%, do not spend money in-game

DeepSeek:
The percentage of people who spend money on Games as a Service (GaaS) varies depending on the game, platform, and monetization model. However, industry estimates suggest that:

• Approximately 2-5% of players are responsible for the majority of in-game spending in free-to-play GaaS titles (often referred to as "whales").
• Around 10-20% of players may spend some amount of money during their time playing a GaaS game, with the majority being small or occasional spenders.

And I remember a Shawn Layden interview corroborating those percentages... Now, those 40M players don't look that impressive, do they?

 

[BennyBlanco]

Disney isn't spending money on those movies anymore, as their production is over, while GaaS games are still in ongoing production.

Lifetime dollars will be exponentially higher... just as its production cost.


you just triggered Men_In_Boxes.

ChatGPT:
In the games-as-a-service (GaaS) or free-to-play (F2P) model, a small percentage of players make in-game purchases, generating significant revenue. Here's a breakdown:

• Payers (Monetized Users): Typically, 0.5% to 6% of players spend money on in-game items, depending on the game's quality and mechanics.
  
• Whales (High Spenders): A small fraction of players contribute a substantial portion of the revenue. For instance, in "World of Warcraft," about 5% of the player base paid 20 times more than the average revenue per user, sustaining ongoing development.
  
  
• Non-Payers: The majority of players, often over 90%, do not spend money in-game

DeepSeek:
The percentage of people who spend money on Games as a Service (GaaS) varies depending on the game, platform, and monetization model. However, industry estimates suggest that:

• Approximately 2-5% of players are responsible for the majority of in-game spending in free-to-play GaaS titles (often referred to as "whales").
• Around 10-20% of players may spend some amount of money during their time playing a GaaS game, with the majority being small or occasional spenders.

And I remember a Shawn Layden interview corroborating those percentages... Now, those 40M players don't look that impressive, do they?

What a reach. I’m actually impressed you’re tripling down on this absurd take. 40M player flop.

 

[Tomofdahook17]

This, ladies and gentleman is the exact same game Concord attempted, just without the Marvel IP and that's literally it. I watched my brother play this and it's so boring and lackluster. Generic cartoon graphics and overwatch/concord style gameplay and simply due to the Marvel IP has amassed this much revenue.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

IMO whales aren't the main payers for nowadays GaaS. In games like Genshin there's a huge percentage of people who sometimes pays the monthly pass, the percentage is definitely higher than 20%.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

What a reach. I’m actually impressed you’re tripling down on this absurd take. 40M player flop.

I didn't say it was a flop, you kimosabi. I said it wasn't impressive.

 

[Felessan]

Now, those 40M players don't look that impressive, do they?

They still impressive. No matter how you try to spin them negative.
Online game is about number of players for comfortable play. And 40m users is a lot to game and community be very active.

And if you want to go with financial numbers just remember that average whale spend 300-500+$ per month, some go as far as spending thousands and average spender is like 30-50$ per month. Even AA titles earn hundreds millions, it's a profitable business.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Disney isn't spending money on those movies anymore, as their production is over, while GaaS games are still in ongoing production.

Lifetime dollars will be exponentially higher... just as its production cost.


you just triggered Men_In_Boxes.

ChatGPT:
In the games-as-a-service (GaaS) or free-to-play (F2P) model, a small percentage of players make in-game purchases, generating significant revenue. Here's a breakdown:

• Payers (Monetized Users): Typically, 0.5% to 6% of players spend money on in-game items, depending on the game's quality and mechanics.
• Whales (High Spenders): A small fraction of players contribute a substantial portion of the revenue. For instance, in "World of Warcraft," about 5% of the player base paid 20 times more than the average revenue per user, sustaining ongoing development.
• Non-Payers: The majority of players, often over 90%, do not spend money in-game

DeepSeek:
The percentage of people who spend money on Games as a Service (GaaS) varies depending on the game, platform, and monetization model. However, industry estimates suggest that:

• Approximately 2-5% of players are responsible for the majority of in-game spending in free-to-play GaaS titles (often referred to as "whales").
• Around 10-20% of players may spend some amount of money during their time playing a GaaS game, with the majority being small or occasional spenders.

And I remember a Shawn Layden interview corroborating those percentages... Now, those 40M players don't look that impressive, do they?

Tbh, you're ignoring the key aspect of the gaas-model:
Continuous revenue.

Marvel Rivals 1st month generated an estimated $136M.
If they can keep that as a baseline, that'll be at least $1.6B in revenue for the first year.

No non-gaas title will ever come close to that amount of revenue.

 

[Achelexus]

Wild that the only way Marvel can be good is by letting the chinese take control over it.

 

[BennyBlanco]

I didn't say it was a flop, you kimosabi. I said it wasn't impressive.

By what standards? It beat out Fortnite for #1 spot on PsN in the US last month and is hugely popular on Steam. To say it’s not impressive is a smooth brain take. Most people thought this game wouldn’t be big at all judging by reactions to the first few trailers. Will it have staying power? Who knows. But right now it is one of the biggest games in the world. But ChorizoPicozo isn’t impressed.

 

[tkscz]

wasn't there news yesterday that the company kicked out most of the Marvel Rival devs?
That happened despite having 40Mio players? How many players would they need to have a secure job for a while?

The people they laid off were just apart of R&D and that point of the game's development was over. One of the guys tried to claim he was the director of the game but the actually director was a Chinese man and then tried to say it was the articles that made that claim and not him.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

So how many companies will be able to get their hands on an IP as great as Marvel's?

Then why did Suicide Squad fail? And many non IP GaaS were successful last year?

IP obviously helps, but it doesn't have to be an established IP.

 

[MatrixReloaded101]

$2.9 billion ....... And this is why these publishers including Sony keeps trying to make the next big live service game.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Game is really starting to hemorrhage players.

Overwatch will be back on top by years end.

Many of you will act surprised. I will not.

 

[nikos]

Not bad for a mobile game.

 

[Felessan]

If they can keep that as a baseline, that'll be at least $1.6B in revenue for the first year.
No non-gaas title will ever come close to that amount of revenue.

And for $1b revenue game, profit margin will be more than 50%. SP games just don't come anywhere close on this scale of revenue. Even Nintendo looks weak.

From the same report

• Net revenues were RMB26.7 billion (US$3.7 billion)
• Gross profit was RMB16.3 billion (US$2.2 billion)
• Gross profit margin for games and related value-added services for the fourth quarter of 2024 was 66.7%