Significant job losses likely at Worms publisher Team17 - sources

UPDATE 3/10/23 11am UK: Team17's company restructure is expected to see layoffs across the business, Eurogamer now understands - on top of the deep cuts to the company's QA department reported yesterday.

The developer's usability team is another set to see job losses, sources close to the company say, with further cuts expected in the studio's programming and marketing departments.

Team17 has now confirmed the company's CEO has left and that the business is now in a consultation period with staff over major proposed changes to its teams, as first reported by Eurogamer yesterday.

UPDATE 2/10/23 2.45pm UK: Team17 has now confirmed it has begun "a period of consultation" ahead of the restructure reported by Eurogamer this morning, in which significant job losses are expected.

The company has additionally confirmed the departure of CEO Michael Pattison, who it described as having "amicably parted ways".

"In response to the reports concerning the departure of Michael Pattison from Team17, we can confirm we have amicably parted ways with Michael," a spokesperson told Eurogamer. 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."

ORIGINAL STORY 2/10/23 12pm UK: Worms publisher Team17 has announced a company restructure likely to result in signficant job losses, Eurogamer understands, with the majority of the developer's internal QA (Quality Assurance) team affected.

The company's CEO Michael Pattison is also expected to leave, sources close to the company say.

Around 50 roles - the vast majority of Team17's QA department - are at risk as part of a major restructuring process, as the company opts to outsource its QA work instead.

The vast majority of the job losses within the QA team - indicated in a new proposed team structure document shared with staff members today - are of junior QA analyst roles.

Outside of QA, it's unclear to what extent other departments are also affected by restructuring plans. Eurogamer has contacted Team17 for comment.

These latest layoffs follow job losses at Team17 earlier in the year within the company's internal development teams. At the time, staff were told further layoffs would not occur.

Staff affected by these latest redundancies were informed of the news via an emergency town hall meeting this morning. A consultation process on the changes has now begun, and will conclude in November.

Pattison has worked at Team17 for two years. He joined in October 2021 as CEO after previously working at PlayStation.

Last year, Eurogamer published a detailed report on Team17, as staff spoke out on the company's pay, working conditions and management failures. In the wake of the report's publication, Team17 promised a number of positive changes, including pay reviews.

Last week, Sega confirmed job losses were expected at UK studio Creative Assembly following the cancellation of Hyenas, while fellow UK developer Mediatonic was hit hard by Epic Games' own announcement of layoffs.