Worms, Overcooked, and, more recently, Blasphemous publisher Team17 is reportedly planning to lay off some of its employees, including the company’s CEO Michael Pattison, Eurogamer reported.
Sources close to the outlet reported the company would let go ofaround 50 employees in the near future, the majority of them belonging to the QA (Quality Assurance and testing) department, it wrote on Oct. 2.
Team17 confirmed in a statement to VG247 that it has “entered into a period of consultation today,” and also “amicably parted ways with [CEO] Michael [Pattison].”
Generally, QA Testers are among the most precarious employees in video games, and they’re often the first ones to be affected by layoffs. At Team17, this is likely to include junior QA analyst roles, according to Eurogamer.
This will also include other departments, however, as well as CEO Michael Pattison among restructuring plans for the company. He joined the company in October 2021 following experience with PlayStation.
Team17 has already performed a round of layoffs in March this year. It’s the second time the company will let go of a group of employees, although sources told Eurogamer it didn’t plan on laying off more employees in the near future. That’s unlikely to make those employees that remain feel any more confident, however.
Eurogamer stated employees were made aware of the company’s decision in an emergency meeting on Oct. 2, and that the decision will be coming into effect in November.
Layoffs have been multiplying in the video games industry this year. On Sept. 30, Epic Games layoffs were announced. They mainly revolved around Fortnite‘s competitive scene and Fall Guys‘ developer Mediatonic.
Earlier, on Sept. 26, Blizzard reportedly planned to lay off part of Hearthstone‘s development team after restructuring. Microsoft enacted lay offs early this year, with Bethesda heavily affected, and Embracer group is cutting staff after a long period of aggressively buying other companies.
Updated Oct. 2, 2023, 09:25 am CT: Updated with comments made by Team17 confirming the news.
