In yet another hit to the gaming industry, Team17, the developer and publisher behind indie titles like Worms and Overcooked is laying off employees. The company informed its plans to restructure in an emergency meeting that will result in “tens of redundancies.”
As many as 50 roles in the QA department of Team17 is expected to be laid off as it looks to restructure and it is claimed that the company will outsource its QA work. The current CEO of the company, Michael Pattison is also leaving, and the Commercial Operations Director, Ann Hurley will take over as CEO.
Team17 Is the Latest Video Games Company Laying Off Employees
Team17 announced its restructuring plans in an internal town hall session, as reported by Eurogamer and confirmed by VG247. The company released a statement and said that it has begun “a period of consultation” ahead of its restructuring and will see several layoffs. It also confirmed the departure of CEO Michael Pattison. The statement read,
“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.”
As many as 50 jobs are to be axed and the vast majority of the employees who will be leaving are said to be junior QA analysts. It is not yet clear if any other departments are also facing redundancies or are affected by the company’s plans.
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This isn’t the first “restructure” from Team 17, the company had previously laid off some employees in March this year from its internal development teams, coining it as “realignment.” The staff at Team17 was told at the time that there wouldn’t be any more layoffs but that is not the case anymore and according to the reports 20-30% of the marketing arm will be laid off.
Last month, the company reported “strong” revenue profits. The company’s revenue increased from 31% to under £70 million, with a gross profit of 18% to £30.2 million. It reported net cash of £45.2 million, with a group headcount of 438, an increase from 392 in the 2022 fiscal year. The layoff news comes in a turbulent time in the gaming industry as Team17 joins the likes of SEGA’s Creative Assembly and Epic Games which recently laid off 900 employees.
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What do you think about the layoffs at Team17? How do you feel about these reports of job cuts across the industry? Do let us know in the comments!
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