The ex-head of NetEase’s esports division and NetEase Games’ former general manager are said to have been arrested on money laundering and bribery charges. Alongside ex-executives Xiang Liang and Jin Yuchen, several other people who worked at the company were reportedly arrested over alleged corruption.
As noted by Game Developer, Chinese outlet Leifeng reported that the former employees in question allegedly laundered in the region of 800 million to 1 billion yuan ($111 million to $139 million). NetEase confirmed to Bloomberg Law only that police were investigating possible corruption. The company is said to have dismissed nine staff members for alleged bribery.
Several external individuals were also implicated, according to Yicai Global. The outlet noted that, per an internal memo, NetEase will refuse to do business with 27 companies that have been connected to the alleged fraud and corruption.
NetEase is behind the likes of Diablo Immortal and Naraka: Bladepoint (the latter of which averages more than 109,000 players on Steam at any given time). It has two free-to-play shooters on the way based on major franchises, namely Marvel Rivals and Destiny: Rising.
White collar crimes aren’t quite a rarity in the games industry. Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka was last year handed a suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay just over $1.1 million after admitting to insider trading.
