Layoffs are reportedly taking place at UK studio Team17, according to staff, with the company looking to restructure itself.

The indie games publisher and developer of Worms informed staff on Friday, as reported by Eurogamer.

Seeking new positions

While layoffs are said to have been taking place, that doesn’t strictly mean redundancies; a spokesperson from Team17 stated that anyone who had been affected by the layoffs is eligible to apply for other positions within the company.

However, some staff are believed to have lost access to internal systems already, with many impacted employees being in the art and design teams. This suggests a focus at Team17 on the publishing side of its business, with development becoming more of an external enterprise.

"Team17 Games Label has initiated a re-alignment of elements within its studio operating business model in order to better meet the needs of our development partners and growth of our owned IP," said one spokesperson.

"This could result in a small number of redundancies; however, we have a number of roles open across the Group and will be encouraging and supporting any colleagues that wish to apply."

Among the UK studio’s upcoming games are a sequel to Moving out and a new fishing title, Dredge. Together with Topia Studios, Team17 launched Farmside last month on Apple Arcade, marking Team17’s first release since having been acquired.

Back in the summer of 2021, Team17 entered into an agreement to acquire the Dublin-based educational entertainment app developer StoryToys for $26.5 million.

Since then, Team17 has also acquired What the Golf? publisher The Label for an initial $24 million. The deal could be worth up to $40 million across three years, as The Label has joined Team17’s existing games label, working collectively with partners and expanding Team17’s mobile presence.

Team17 featured in our list of 2022's most strategic gaming investors.