Another day and sadly another story of gaming industry job losses, this time with UK developer and publisher Team17 facing a slate of redundancies in its publishing arm, Team17 Digital, while also seeing the exit of its CEO, Michael Pattison. Team17 is known for creating the Worms franchise as well as more recently publishing a number of high-profile indie titles such as Dredge, Moving Out, Overcooked and Blasphemous.
Word of the changes first came from within the company after internal meetings and letters to staff informing them of the potential risk to their jobs, via VG247, which has since received an official statement from Team17 confirming the layoffs and leadership change:
“In response to the reports concerning the departure of Michael Pattison from Team17, we can confirm we have amicably parted ways with Michael. We can also confirm that we have sadly entered into a period of consultation today within Team17 Digital, with Astragon and Storytoys remaining unaffected by the restructuring plans.”
Breaking: Team17 hit by redundancies – UK firm latest to suffer layoffs
VG247 sources corroborate Eurogamer’s reporthttps://t.co/eDq71fTZHV pic.twitter.com/r5AgbGqDaz
— VG247 (@VG247) October 2, 2023
The official statement doesn’t confirm it, but the role of CEO will reportedly be taken up Team 17’s Commercial Operations Director, Ann Hurley.
Hurley shared a statement internally, telling staff that although the company’s half-year results showed growth, they were “against the backdrop of one of the most competitive years for high quality launches,” saying that Team17 Digital had faced these in particular. The full letter read is below:
“As explained in today’s announcement, we have just communicated our half year results showing strong growth for the Group in the first half of the year. This reflects the success of our diverse portfolio strategy, and the commitment and expertise of our people in all that we do.
However, we recognise these results were against the backdrop of one of the most competitive years for high quality launches and deep peer discounting that the industry has ever seen. Within our Group, Team17 Digital in particular has felt the pressure of these challenges, as have many companies in our industry.”
Eurogamer claims that the job losses total around 50 roles, with the majority being junior roles within its QA team, with VG247’s sources telling the outlet that the marketing department will also shrink by up to 30 percent. Team17 had already shed a number of roles within its development arm earlier in the year due to re-structuring.
