Team17, the developer of the award-winning Wormsfranchise, has announced the expansion of its third-party publishing program to the mobile marketplace.

The premiere title for its mobile publishing initiative is Rocket Rainbow's Hay Ewe, which is expected in Q2 2014 for smartphones and tablets.

Although a small indie studio, Rocket Rainbow includes talent from PopCap Games who have been credited with work on Plants vs. Zombies, Bejeweled, and Peggle.

A can of worms

Speaking on the partnership, Team17's managing director Debbie Bestwick underscored the significance of Rocket Rainbow's experience in influencing its decision to publish Hay Ewe.

"The team at Rocket Rainbow have an incredible pedigree of working on great games prior to forming their own studio. We're honoured to be their partner to help bring Hay Ewe to mobile and tablets."

Hay Ewe, Rocket Rainbow

For its part, Rocket Rainbow expressed enthusiasm at working with Team17.

"When we saw that Team17 were re-entering the publishing arena we were over the moon. Team17 has such an incredible history and the whole team is excited at the prospect of working together,"said JP Vaughan, co-founder of Rocket Rainbow.