Jeris Dianingana, former lead environment artist on Cliffhanger Studios' canceled EA Marvel Black Panther, accuses Marvel Rivals developer NetEase copied his work to create a Wakanda-themed game map.
Dianingana made these claims for the first time X And blueskypromoting similarities between elements Marvel Rivals Map of the Interstellar Empire of Wakanda and his own work. Dianingana told the game developer in a follow-up comment that he recognized what he called a “keyhole extrusion” visible on the in-game map, and published concept art.
“I saw a KeyHole ledge in the wall with a statue support, both things I designed with very specific symmetrical patterns, I immediately recognized my work,” he said when asked how he identified it. He also said that in late 2024, someone claiming to be a concept artist complimented his work and said it was inspiring Marvel Rivals team.
IN Marvel Rivals concept art and map, a place called the Imperial Institute of Science has several alcoves with statues and busts paying homage to the famous Marvel character. IN Dianingana's 2021 work of the year “Ondze Museum” Busts with African masks can be seen in museum settings. The concept art for the map also depicts a museum-like space. The alcoves are strikingly reminiscent of Dianingana's works.
Image courtesy of Jeris Dianingana/NetEase.
In NetEase's concept art, the statue is also marked with two golden triangles, which are very reminiscent of the triangles on the Dianingana statues. He also noticed a statue that was exceptionally close to his 2017 piece.”Wakongo River.” The statue appears in Marvel Rivals The map is in the same room as the Black Panther bust, hidden in a keyhole-like alcove.
This design choice may have been accidental, but Dianingana explained a message from someone that he was the “art designer” on Marvel Rivals only fueled his suspicions
An artist named “milu” said that NetEase “absorbed inspiration” from Dianingana's work.
In December 2024—just weeks after Marvel unveiled a Wakanda-themed space map—someone named “follow” sent Dianingana a message calling himself an “art developer” Marvel Rivals. “I really like your design,” this person wrote. “We also incorporated inspiration from your work into the design of the Wakanda map.”
The person said the team would like to invite Dianingana to “participate” in the art design or “work with us remotely to create the artwork.”[sic] from Marvel Rivals“
Images by Milou via X.
October 22, 2025 Game Developer Reviewed Milu X account and what it turned out to be Artstation child profile. The account originally contained concept art Marvel Rivals and a link back to Artstation. The link didn't work at the time, but we identified an Artstation page for one “Mi Lu” with some of the same artwork as on account X. On October 24, all of Milu's tweets were deleted and the artwork on the Artstation page was reduced to a single image: a 3D rendering of Bitcoin.
Image via Mi Lu on Artstation.
Dianingana made his first post on October 17th and then published additional posts on October 23rd. We were unable to determine when the Twitter page and Artstation page associated with Milou were removed.
In his posts on X and Bluesky, Dianingana explained that he tried to contact NetEase to discuss how his art appeared to be used, but received no response. “I tried to start a lot of conversations, but they were all ignored. You needed people who knew African culture to help you with Wakanda,” he said. “You used my knowledge and just started ignoring me when I started asking for loans.”
The game developer has reached out to NetEase for comment and will update this story when the company responds.
