Team17's Martyn Brown Leaves Studio

After 20 years with UK-based Worms and Alien Breed developer Team17, studio head and co-founder Martyn Brown is leaving the company to become an independent game consultant. "Ok, I can finally announce that I left Team17," said Brown on his Facebook page. "I had an amazing 20 year ride and while it's the end of a truly enjoyable period of my life, it equally signals the start of a really exciting new one." The industry veteran co-founded the West Yorkshire game maker in 1990. Brown is a self-described "creative-led manager with a lot of passion for video games and [their] people." Last year, Brown and Team17 decided that the company would shift its focus away from releasing games at physical retail, instead delivering games via digital distribution. The company at the same time moved to independent publishing. "Specifically it’s about control, for us to make all the decisions -- and even if that means making a few mistakes along the way, they are our mistakes, which is critical," Brown said at the time. Team17 has released games including Alien Breed: Impact, Worms 2: Armageddon, Alien Breed 3: Descent and Worms: Battle Island. The company has games on major consoles, PC and the App Store, with Facebook and Mac games on the way, according to the developer's website.