At least five studios that have collaborated with Team17 have already published a press release to dissociate themselves from the management of Team17, which recently announced the sale of a collection of NFTs based on the Worms franchise. Walking the talk, one of these studios even threatens not to work with Team17 again in the future and encourages other independent studios to do the same.
Australian studio SMG, which worked with Team17 on the moving simulation Moving Out, refuses to be associated directly or indirectly with anything related to NFTs and the blockchain, denouncing the impact of this movement on the environment, on the nature of games and on the industry in general. “We have artist friends whose lives have changed with NFT and we are happy for them. Simply, we do not wish to be part of it, either directly or indirectly.“, can we read in a message which avoids mentioning Team17 directly.
Same story at Ghost Town Games, well known for having signed one of the biggest successes of Team17 with Overcooked. “We do not endorse NFTs. We believe that their social and environmental cost to pay is too high. We also want to ask you to be kind when expressing your concerns to the kind community managers in the area.“, can we read. The same goes for Playtonic Games, whose Team17 had published both Yooka-Layleeand for Navegante, author of the recent Greak: Memories of Azurwhich show concision in explaining not have any intention of dabble in NFTs.
A restraint not found in the communicated much more scathing presented by the American studio Aggro Crab, which directly condemns Team17’s decision to produce and invest in NFTs. “We think NFTs can’t be eco-friendly or useful or anything but a fucking scam“, strikes the text. The studio, which collaborated with Team17 on Going Under in 2020, adds that it does not call for harassment of Team17 employees and its partner developers, such decisions usually coming from the top of management. “Needless to say, we won’t be working with them on any more games and we encourage other independent developers to do the same until they reverse this decision.“, can we read.