Team17 has been in the world of game development since 1990, and along the way it has spawned plenty of beloved classics. However, a recent report revealing certain management problems was published by Eurogamer last week, and has brought attention to the team's practices behind the scenes.
Michael Pattison, the CEO of Team17, has responded to the "scathing report" in an interview with Eurogamer, making it clear that steps will be taken to improve its internal workings. The reveal of dissatisfied ex-employees working for less than they deserve is just one aspect that Team17 is determined to correct going forward.
Eurogamer cited a dozen former employees of Team17 in its report to outline problems with the payment structure and frequent turnaround that it has suffered recently, along with the recent Worms NFT backlash. Problems such as the COVID-19 pandemic have been understandably mentioned, but employee criticism has revealed that many staff departures have occurred in recent weeks and months. Other problems like job dissatisfaction were brought up due to lack of respect and an HR team to deal with harassment in the workplace despite pre-existing measures. With a salary starting at £16,000 and over 30 job placements still needing to be filled, Pattison has stated a pay review is underway. "I'm committed to taking action, I won't brush over anything that was said or ignore any of the points being made," Pattison said. "It will all be thoroughly investigated, you have my guarantee on that."
With Thymesia still unconfirmed for an official release date, Team17's pushback for its newest games appear to be an indirect result of these internal management problems. The company's next salary review will be in April at the start of the fiscal year, and Pattison has stated that his aim is to "make necessary changes there where we see any deltas - where we're off in terms of competitive pay." This will be done via quality of life improvements as well as prospective pay bonuses to try and make Team17 a more appealing place to work. If the investigation and actions taken are successful, it will hopefully result in a domino effect that improves all aspects of the company, from investors to employees. Pattison goes on to say "We also have a responsibility to our employees, our development partners and consumers to deliver the best product possible."
Team17 has been at the source of other controversies with IPs such as its split from the Ready or Not developers after talk of a school shooting level, acting quickly to try and resolve the issue. Pattison has said many promising things, but only time will tell if the right course of action is taken to better Team17's development process for 2022 and beyond.
Source: Eurogamer