Several NetEase Games employees have reportedly been arrested on charges of bribery and money laundering.
As picked up by Chinese site Leifeng.com and reported by Agency Law, NetEase Games general manager Xiang Lang was detained along with NetEase esports leader Jin Yuchen and several other staff on anti-corruption charges. .
To view this content, please enable targeting cookies.
In an internal memo to staff, NetEase Games, which develops Marvel Rivals and Destiny: Rising, announced that it has since fired a total of nine employees for alleged bribery. The case is believed to affect 28 suppliers to the Chinese megacorporation in a case valued at approximately 1 billion yuan, or £107.5 million/$139.3 million.
The names of those involved have apparently been removed from NetEase's internal systems and shortly after the arrests, staff still employed at the studio reported that their usual screen savers had been replaced by reminders of NetEase's compliance protocols.
This is reportedly the second internal anti-corruption investigation that NetEase has organized since September 2023.
A NetEase spokesperson said police were now investigating alleged corruption charges, but would not reveal further details at this time.