Team 17 shifts focus to digital instead of boxed products

UK-based studio Team 17 has said it's planning to increase the number of downloadable games it produces, and forgo boxed products in the future.

Speaking with MCV, Team 17 co-founder Martyn Brown said the firm has "no ambitions to return to retail publishing".

“Digital distribution has allowed easy and direct access to the game for millions of customers at a time when it has become difficult to get attention at retail,” he said.

To focus on the digital aspect of the business, Team 17 restructured its management team with both new recruits and internal promotions.

Debbie Bestwick is now both managing director as well as sales and marketing director, and Martyn Brown will serve as business development director.

Paul Kilburn will work as head of production, John Dennis as head of design, and Mark Baldwin is the new community manager.

Paul Bray and Alan Perrie, two of the newest recruits will serve as finance and operations director and head of global marketing, respectively.

Team 17 will also work witj independent developers in bringing IPs to XBL, PSN, Apple's App store, and others.

"I think that given the general malaise of the third party publisher ‘work-for-hire’ market, it is no surprise that a lot of developers are heading towards digital publishing as some kind of saviour," added Brown.

"We are actively involved in working with other independent studios to publish their IP. This is a key aspect of our strategy going forward. We now have the right structure and team in place to accomplish this."

The latest from Team 17, Worms Reloaded, was released on Steam last week, and a Mac version is being worked on.