Ex-Marvel Rivals dev bashes game upon reveal & claims to not have been paid

An alleged ex-Marvel Rivals dev is claiming to not have been paid for their work on the game and subsequently bashed the project as “directionless” in a scathing post on social media. 

The announcement of Marvel Rivals has set the gaming space ablaze as the Overwatch-esque 6v6 shooter piqued many prospective players’ interest, with hype building for the game as it waits to start its closed alpha. 

However, just as the project revealed itself to the world, an alleged ex-dev publicly called out NetEase for not only copying other games but also for allegedly not paying for this artist’s work.

Most of the feedback during concept boiled down to: "look at this thing from this other thing and copy it." At one point the reference image provided was literally a piece of concept art that was trending on artstation on that same day smfh

— 巴特尔 ᠪᠣᠷᠵᠢᠭᠢᠨ (@willthebao) March 28, 2024

William Bao, now a Character Concept Artist at id Software, recounted his time working with NetEase during the global crisis. 

“They did not pay for the work I did at the end and it was one of the most directionless projects I’ve ever had the misfortune of working on,” Bao said. 

“Most of the feedback during concept boiled down to: ‘Look at this thing from this other thing and copy it.’ At one point the reference image provided was literally a piece of concept art that was trending on ArtStation on that same day.” 

As for NetEase not paying him, Bao said he did not legally pursue his paycheck as it would have “cost an arm and a leg” to get paid for the alleged work done on Marvel Rivals.

He further explained in the replies, “I started to get suspicious around the start of week 3. They kept on saying it’s just a style test for the project, but the feedback kept on getting more and more specific. No ‘art test’ lasts that long. Can only imagine how much free work they got out of ‘art tests.’”

Bao ended off his scathing thread of NetEase with a warning to other artists. “Back then I was young and hungry. This goes out to all younger artists in this industry, don’t ever do ‘free’ art tests. If you’re good enough then you deserve to be [paid] for your time. Any work you do during these ‘tests’ are company properties and could be used in the end.”

Dexerto has reached out to NetEase for a response to the allegations.