Team17 cancels their MetaWorms NFT project after experiencing backlash for planning to get into NFTs and leaving their staff and several indie developer partners in the dark regarding their plans. On Tuesday, Team17 released a press statement sharing that they have “taken the decision to step back from the NFT space” just one day after announcing their plan for Worms NFTs due to receiving lot of negative feedback from fans and several partners. They also shared the same press statement on Twitter.
Team17 first publicly announced their NFT project on Monday, which was immediately met with heavy criticism from fans and several indie developers who have worked with the indie umbrella publisher. Additionally, many of Team17’s staff and development studio partners were unaware of the NFT project until Team17’s announcement on Monday. As a result, many of their partners have released statements distancing themselves from Team17.
On Monday, indie game studio Aggro Crab voiced their opinions about Team17, stating that they “will not be working with them on further titles, and encourage other indie developers to do the same.” After Team17 shared their statement on Twitter yesterday, Aggro Crab expressed their thanks on Twitter for making the decision to cancel the NFT project. Although Aggro Crab has not released an update on their relationship with Team17 now that they are no longer pursuing NFTs, many developers who are still working and associating with Team17 felt the need to clear up any misunderstandings regarding their stances on NFTs.
Ghost Town Games, an indie game studio based in England, announced yesterday on Twitter that they “will never engage with NFTs,” nor do they support NFTs. Ghost Town Games worked with Team17 on their popular Overcooked series, which was published by Team17.
Playtonic Games, another game studio and publishing company based in England, also stated that they have no plans to pursue NFTs. Playtonic Games worked with Team17 on their Yooka-Laylee series, which was published by Team17. The game studio also asked for people to “please be respectful when engaging with staff and community managers unwittingly affected by NFT announcements” in their statement shown below.
Team17’s quick redaction of their MetaWorms NFT project shows the subtle difference between the way AAA companies approach backlash surrounding NFTs compared to indie companies. If other indie game studios try their hand at the NFT sphere, they’ll most likely meet the same fate handed to them by the indie game community.