Team17 was founded by Debbie Bestwick, Martyn Brown and Michael Robinson on December 7, 1990, when members of 17-Bit Software and Team 7 teamed up to become one almighty powerhouse.
We developed our first game, Full Contact, in 1991 for the Commodore Amiga, followed by the top-down shooter Alien Breed which went onto become a hit series.
1995 was a monumental year in our history thanks to some militant invertebrates. The strategic artillery game Worms, featuring quirky worm characters and explosive gameplay, has since become our calling card. Over 30 years and over 20 different Worms games later, the series is still beloved by many, and we couldn’t be more grateful to our players for loving the series as much as we love working on it.
.png?width=400&height=400&name=Raccoon_Alt2%20(1).png)
We’ve gotten to work with so many phenomenal development partners and shared in the excitement of bringing some epic games to market. From the chaotic cooking multiplayer Overcooked!, WWII first person shooter, Hell Let Loose to the brutal action platformer Blasphemous.
We’re growing and innovating all the time, but we’ll never forget our indie roots. Creating engaging and entertaining experiences that our players will love for a lifetime is at the heart of everything we do.
The 1990s was an exciting time for technology; The World Wide Web launched into the public domain, Microsoft released the revolutionary operating system Windows 95, and the first PlayStation console was revealed to the world. The decade also marks our debut as a video games publisher and developer. We worked on classics such as Alien Breed, Superfrog, Project X, ATR: All Terrain Racing and Super Stardust among others and it wasn’t long before we snagged our first award. In 1993, we were awarded ‘Software House of the Year' at the Golden Joystick Awards. 1995 saw the birth of Worms, now our most loved and well-known franchise.
We released the first Worms game for the Commodore Amiga with publisher Ocean Software and the game sold over 250,000 copies within just six months. Its sequel, Worms 2, was released shortly after in 1997, followed by Worms Armageddon and Worms Pinball in 1999. Worms Armageddon became the biggest success of the franchise to date and was released to critical acclaim on PC, PlayStation, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color. We approached the new Millennium with grease on our wheels and a lot to be proud of, not even the Y2K bug could stand in our way.
.png?width=484&height=500&name=pngegg%20(2).png)
In the 00s, we witnessed the birth of Facebook and YouTube, Barack Obama becoming the first black president of the United States and the planet Pluto receiving a demotion to a dwarf planet. As for Team17, we took a step back from third party publishing and shifted our focus towards development and to the continued expansion of the Worms franchise.
We worked alongside Sony to develop Lemmings for the PlayStation Portable (PSP), PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3, developed Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office for PC and consoles as well as Army Men: Major Malfunction for a console release. Our catalogue of Worms games also continued to grow. In the 2000s, we released Worms 3D, Worms Open Warfare, Worms Forts: Under Siege and Worms: A Space Oddity to name a few. In 2007, Steve Jobs unveiled Apple’s first iPhone, so we brought the original Worms to iOS too. becoming our first game available to play on mobile. After all, what would an apple be without a worm?
The 2010s kicked off with a bang, and we're not just talking about the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano. We developed and published Steam, Xbox and PlayStation versions of the games in our Alien Breed franchise. We also added a few more Worms titles to our arsenal. Including, Worms: Battle Islands, Worms Ultimate Mayhem and Worms Crazy Golf. In 2013, we made a historic return to third party publishing after a hiatus of almost two decades and opened our European publishing office in the Midlands.
We kicked off our return with the signing of stealth puzzle game Light from developers Just a Pixel LTD. We signed the iconic The Escapists from developer Mouldy Toof Games and helped the team bring the original game, a Walking Dead edition and its eventual sequel The Escapists 2 to PC and consoles. We published the multi award winning Overcooked! and Overcooked! 2 developed by Ghost Town Games and Yoku’s Island Express from Villa Gorilla which received a BAFTA for Best Debut Game.
Though we're only halfway through, the 2020s has been an eventful decade already. An unprecedented global pandemic meant we were locked down in our homes and remote working became our new normal. Adapting to this new version of the world was no easy feat, but in 2020, we saw one of our busiest years for publishing. Some of the most iconic titles released this year included Golf With Your Friends, The Survivalists and Neon Abyss. We also had the pleasure of receiving an award for ‘Indie Publisher of the Year’ at the MCV/Develop Awards and were inducted into the Golden Joysticks Hall of Fame in recognition of 30 years in the industry.
In 2021, the world began to open again, and our efforts showed no sign of slowing down. We published Hell Let Loose, Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos and Narita Boy among others and were honored with The Queen's Award for Enterprise and International Trade. In 2022, we acquired mobile games publisher, The Label allowing us to expand our mobile offering and we published our most diverse range of games yet. From Ship of Fools to Thymesia to Hokko Life. In 2023, we published the iconic DREDGE which went on to sell over 1 million copies, win Best Indie Game at the IGN Awards and was nominated for 4 BAFTAs. We also won the Publishing Star Award at the Develop: Star Awards.
