NetEase launched a brand new sport studio known as Jar of Sparks in 2022, headed up by Halo and Future 2 veteran Jerry Hook. The purpose, NetEase stated on the time, was “to create a brand new technology of narrative-driven motion video games, with immersive worlds that can be full of moments that players will need to share with one another.” However only a couple years down the street, that is all come to naught, for now a minimum of, as Hook introduced on LinkedIn (by way of VGC) that Jar of Sparks is halting work whereas it tries to discover a new writer.
“Earlier as we speak, we notified our staff that Jar of Sparks can be halting work on our present title as we seek for a brand new publishing associate who might help convey our inventive imaginative and prescient to life,” Hook wrote in a message posted on January 7. “All through this journey, our passionate, pushed, and progressive staff took daring dangers and pushed boundaries, striving to create one thing really new and thrilling for the business. We couldn’t be prouder of the groundwork we’ve laid collectively.
“As we put together for this subsequent step, our gifted staff members can be exploring new alternatives. When you’re trying to find distinctive professionals who’re pushed and assume exterior the field, please attain out. We’d be more than pleased to attach you with a number of the greatest builders I’ve had the pleasure of working beside.”
If this feels oddly acquainted, you is perhaps desirous about Worlds Untold, the NetEase studio based in 2023 with BioWare veteran Mac Walters at its head. That studio additionally had large aspirations—to “create IPs with depth and chance that may’t be contained in a single sport, or perhaps a single medium”—and Walters, as did Hook, praised NetEase as the perfect associate for the brand new enterprise. In November 2024, it too “paused operations” after NetEase determined to halt financing.
Very similar to the Worlds Untold state of affairs, Hook’s message suggests the state of affairs is short-term, and it could be: Hook concluded by saying that “we look ahead to updating you all with our subsequent step in our journey.” However the truth that workers at the moment are “in search of new alternatives”—which is to say, they now not have jobs—fairly clearly signifies that that is greater than only a bump within the street.
It could additionally level to a broader shift in priorities at NetEase, which stated when it ended funding for Worlds Untold that “present market situations have required us to reassess and prioritise our alternatives.” Quite a few different corporations have cited “market situations” as justification for layoffs and closures over the previous couple years and that is little question a part of it, however NetEase additionally not too long ago renewed its deal to function Blizzard video games in China, which the corporate stated in its November 2024 monetary outcomes has “reignited historic degree of participant neighborhood enthusiasm” and seen a big enhance in pre-shutdown participant numbers. The corporate could merely be seeking to retrench with assured money-makers, moderately than rolling the cube on all-new initiatives.
I’ve reached out to NetEase for remark and can replace if I obtain a reply.
