Earlier this week, the US-based developers working on Marvel Rivals began reporting on LinkedIn that they had been laid off. The developers did not give a reason for the layoffs, which came as a shock to the gaming community because of Rivals’ evident success. However, in a statement to The Verge, NetEase has clarified that the reason was organizational streamlining.

“We recently made the difficult decision to adjust Marvel Rivals’ development team structure for organizational reasons and to optimize development efficiency for the game,” wrote Alex Armour, a PR representative from NetEase Games. “This resulted in a reduction of a design team based in Seattle that is part of a larger global design function in support of Marvel Rivals.”

The statement continued by reassuring fans that development on Rivals would continue with a core group of developers based in China. “We are investing more, not less, into the evolution and growth of this game.”

According to a report in VentureBeat though, organizational streamlining doesn’t give the full picture of what’s going on, with sources claiming the real reason for the layoffs is that NetEase executives are no longer confident in overseas development teams. The success of Black Myth: Wukong has apparently proven to NetEase that blockbuster hits can be made cheaper and closer to home without the need for expensive overseas teams in Europe and America. 

In a statement to VentureBeat, NetEase denied claims that it intends to retreat from overseas development and that the layoffs in Seattle only represent a small portion of its holdings abroad. “Our studios in North America, UK, Spain, and Japan all continue to refine and develop their ongoing game projects.”

NetEase declined to detail the exact scope of the Seattle layoffs which come just two months after Marvel Rivals launched to rapid critical and financial success with reports estimating that it raised over $130 million in revenue in its first month.