An MMORPG based on the Warhammer IP has been cancelled by NetEase. According to FRVR, the title, formerly under development at Jackalyptic Games, seemingly had City of Heroes and City of Villains developer Jack Emmert at the helm as its designer. The game had been in development since 2022 before its ultimate cancellation.
Taking to LinkedIn, Emmert made the announcement with a post confirming the cancellation of the project. As part of this announcement, he also noted that the studio will be hit with lay-offs. UI engineer Joseph Sierejko posted his own response to this announcement, revealing that he had been working at the studio for the last two and a half years.
“Well the news is officially out,” wrote Sierejko. “My time at Jackalyptic and the studio as a whole is coming to an end. The last 2 1/2 years have easily been the most informative of my entire career, and it’s in no small part because of the insane talent every one of my colleagues exhibited.”
Unfortunately, more details about the cancelled projects haven’t yet been revealed, with UI/UX artist Will Austin confirming that his work on the project during his tenure at Jackalyptic Games is part of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that the developers had to sign. Whether the project would focus on Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, or Warhammer 40,000 also wasn’t confirmed.
NetEase pulling its support of Jackalyptic Games likely comes as part of larger moves being made by the company as part of its efforts to scale back on its non-Chinese investments. These moves first came to light back in February, with analysts at the time noting geopolitical tensions mounting as well as some key investments not quite paying off being the core reason.
“China is in retreat: geopolitical tensions, some big bets not paying off, and the whims of certain CEOs mean that a massive pullback has begun,” said VC firm F4 Fund David Kaye. “One MAJOR strategic that has made dozens of investments in the past several years is reportedly pulling the plug and divesting ALL investments outside China. Some will likely find buyers. Others will not be so lucky.”
The company being referenced by Kaye in this statement is believed to be NetEase. For its part, the company has noted that it is still forging ahead with its “two-pronged” approach that revolves around self-research and investments to explore overseas markets. The company also pointed to successful projects like Marvel Rivals and Once Human.
“As far as overseas business efforts are concerned, NetEase has not wavered in its global expansion plans,” said the company in a statement. “Our ‘two-pronged’ approach, proposed in 2022 (combining self-research and investments to explore overseas markets), is still actively progressing and yielding positive results.”
“For titles developed by the self-owned studios, we successfully launched games like Once Human and Marvel Rivals in 2024. These projects demonstrate NetEase’s ability, along with our talented development teams, to produce high-quality games loved by players worldwide. For 2025, we have an extensive pipeline of titles in development, featuring a variety of genres, including FragPunk, Ananta and more.”
