Jeryce Dianingana, former lead environment artist on EA's canceled Marvel Black Panther game from Cliffhanger Studios, is accusing Marvel Rivals developer NetEase of copying his work in designing the game's Wakanda-themed map.

Dianingana first made these claims on X and Bluesky, publicizing the similarities between elements of Marvel Rivals "Interstellar Empire of Wakanda" map and his own work. Dianingana told Game Developer in a follow-up comment that he recognized what he called a "KeyHole extrusion" visible in the in-game map and publicized concept art.

"I saw that KeyHole extrusion in the wall with that statue support, both things that I designed with very specific symmetrical patterns I directly recognized my work," he said, when asked how he identified it. He also said in late 2024, someone claiming to be a concept artist reached out to praise his work and say it inspired the Marvel Rivals team.

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In the Marvel Rivals concept art and map, there are a number of alcoves with statues and busts paying tribute to the famous Marvel character in a locale called the "Imperial Institute of Science." In Dianingana's 2021 piece "Ondze Museum" busts bearing African masks are seen in a museum-like environment. The map's concept art also appears to depict a museum-like space. The alcoves bear a striking resemblance to Dianingana's art.

In NetEase's concept art, the statue also is marked by two golden triangles that closely resemble those on Dianingana's statues. He also spotted a statue that was exceptionally close to his 2017 piece "Wakongo River." The statue appears in the Marvel Rivals map in the same room as a bust of Black Panther ensconced in a keyhole-like alcove.

These design choices could be coincidental—but Dianingana explained a message from someone saying they were an "art developer" on Marvel Rivals only fueled his suspicions

In December 2024—just a few weeks after Marvel unveiled the cosmic Wakanda-themed map—someone named "Milu" sent Dianingana a message claiming to be "the art developer" of Marvel Rivals. "I like your design very much," this individual wrote. "We also absorbed the inspiration of your work in the design of the Wakanda map."

This person said the team would like to invite Dianingana to "participate" in the art design, or to "work with us remotely to produce the art work[sic] of Marvel Rivals."

On October 22, 2025, Game Developer reviewed Milu's X account and what appeared to be an affiliated Artstation profile. The account originally contained concept art for Marvel Rivals and a link back to Artstation. The link was not functional at the time, but we did identify an Artstation page for one "Mi Lu" with some of the same art pieces seen on the X account. On October 24, all of Milu's Tweets had been deleted, and the art on the Artstation page reduced to one image: a 3D rendering of a Bitcoin.

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Dianingana made his initial post on October 17, then followed up with additional posts on October 23. We weren't able to determine when the Twitter page and Artstation page affiliated with Milu were scrubbed.

In his posts on X and Bluesky, Dianingana explained he had tried to reach out to NetEase to discuss what appeared to be the use of his art, but had not received a response. "I tried to enable many 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 to ask for credits."

Game Developer has reached out to NetEase for comment and will update this story when the company responds.