The wave of layoffs in the international games industry simply doesn’t seem to end. Now the British publisher Team17 is facing extensive restructuring measures. In other words: tons of employees will have to take their hats off. At least the Düsseldorf subsidiary Astragon Entertainment is spared for the time being.
The video game industry has already seen tons of cutbacks, studio closures and the dreaded restructuring measures in 2023. The Embracer Group in particular repeatedly attracts negative attention, for example through layoffs at Plaion and the termination of traditional game companies such as Volition. But the German studio Daedalic also recently had to close its doors and Relic Entertainment lost 121 employees in the last few weeks.
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Now we have bad news from Great Britain. According to well-informed sources, British indie publisher Team17 will lay off far more employees than initially stated when the restructuring was announced. According to Eurogamer and other media, not only 50 positions in quality assurance will be affected.
Accordingly, management is talking about “significant” layoffs for the approximately 400 employees. The departure of the company’s CEO, Michael Pattison, has already been confirmed and, according to officials, was decided by mutual agreement. This was accompanied by the start of a consultation phase during which further restructuring was planned.
The management of Team17 cites the fact that they are suffering from competitive pressure and falling prices as the reason. Even though the half-year figures were positive, the share price has fallen sharply in recent months and is currently only worth a third of its best level.
The Düsseldorf simulation studio Astragon Entertainment is explicitly not affected by the cuts. Team17 took over this in January 2022 for the proud sum of 100 million euros.
Team17 has been one of the main players in the European gaming landscape for many years. With brands such as Worms, Overcooked, Moving Out and Golf with your Friends, the company has been able to secure a firm footing in the indie segment.
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