NetEase Fires Executives Accused of Money Laundering

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Key conclusions

  • Nine NetEase Games employees have reportedly been fired for bribery and money laundering, including top executives.
  • The investigation involves purchases from 28 suppliers worth $140 million to $279 million.
  • NetEase is developing the Mugen and Where Winds Meet projects amid an ongoing anti-corruption investigation.



Nine employees from NetEase Gamesa Chinese publisher and developer of various AAA games has reportedly been fired after being arrested on bribery and money laundering charges. Among those arrested are two high-ranking executive members of NetEase Games, Xiang Lang and Jin Yuchen. NetEase Games is a well-known Chinese publisher and developer that has previously worked with companies such as Blizzard and Bungie on games such as Diablo Immortal and Destiny: Ascension on mobile. Some of the company's latest products include Rivals of Marvel and Once a man.

NetEase was first founded in 1997 by Ding Lei, initially as a technology company that later expanded into other businesses such as video games. It started in 2020 with the company establishing a video game division, acquiring developers like Grasshopper Manufacture, and hiring big game industry veterans like former Sega employees Toshihiro Nagoshi and Daisuke Sato. Other studios such as Spliced ​​were also opened in 2023, founded by former Marvelous VP Toshinori Aoki and BlazBlue creator Toshimichi Mori. Amidst NetEase's rapid growth, several employees have recently been implicated in the investigation, including two senior employees of the company.


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In an internal memo to its employees (first published by Chinese website Leifeng and reported by Bloomberg Law), NetEase announced that it has since fired a total of nine employees for alleged bribery. The names of these affected employees appear to have been removed from NetEase's internal systems. Among those implicated are NetEase Games general manager Xiang Lan, as well as Jin Yuchen, NetEase's former head of eSports for games such as the upcoming Rivals of Marvel.


9 employees of NetEase Games were arrested


An internal investigation into NetEase Games is still ongoing, but Leifen notes that it is related to employee purchasing traffic. It is suspected that this is the value of the contract involving 28 megacorp suppliers in the case, which is worth about one to two billion yuan, which is approximately US$140 million to US$279 million. Shortly after the arrests, NetEase employees reported that their usual computer screensavers had been replaced with reminders of the company's compliance protocols.

Based on what is known, this is the second internal anti-corruption investigation organized by NetEase, the previous one was in September 2023. A spokesman for NetEase said police are investigating the alleged corruption allegations, although details have not been released at this time. As for games under development at the company, NetEase is working on them Project Mugenan open-world urban fantasy role-playing game that draws inspiration from a number of other titles such as Grand Theft Autoand is currently in development for PC, PS5 and mobile Where the winds meetwhich is scheduled to be released in 2025.


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