2023 has sadly been a year that has seen consistent widespread layoffs in the games industry, and recent days and weeks have seen another flurry of those, with the likes of Creative Assembly, Epic Games, and others having been hit with layoffs. Another company has, unfortunately, now joined that list.
As per a report published on Eurogamer, Team17, the company behind the Worms series, announced to employees in an emergency townhall meeting earlier today that it will be layoff off close to 50 staff members as part of an internal restructuring program.
The vast majority of the layoffs will impact Team17’s internal quality assurance team, with most junior QA staff set to lose their jobs. The company is instead choosing to pivot to outsourcing its QA work instead of having it done internally.
In a statement to VG247, Team17 has confirmed that it has “entered into a period of consultation”, that, according to Eurogamer, will end in November and determine the full extent of the company’s restructuring plans and resulting layoffs.
Additionally, it’s also been confirmed that Team17’s CEO Michael Pattison has “amicably” departed from the company.