Team17 announce influx of new staff in US and UK as company looks towards growth

Indie publisher outfit Team 17 have just announced a series of hires in the United States and the UK that they are hoping will aid their goal to grow both

Team17 jumped back into independant publishing in 2013, and since then have published 13 games on the label, including hit title The Escapists and forthcoming Kickstarter success Yooka-Laylee. The company are hoping these newest hires will help to attract US talent to its label.

Joining the team on the U.S side of things is Justin Berenbaum, who will be leading Team17’s US operations at its head of publishing and business development for Asia and the Americas. Berenbaum was previously the VP of business development and strategic relations at 505 Games, and has plenty of indie experience as a member of the board of directors for IGDA and the Global Game Jam.

In the UK, there’s a series of hires aiming to support company growth. Matt Benson, Ste Stanley, Ian Pickles, Ellie Spanovic, Davide Fabrizzi, Niklas Hansson and Octavia Vasilescu are all joining the company in various roles.

Benson is joining in the role of business development manager, Stanley as a marketing and sales coordinator, Pickles as a senior producer on external partner projects, Spanovic as a community manager, Fabrizzi as a concept artist, Hansson as a lead programmer and finally Vasilescu is signing up as a lead QA. It’s a big chunk of hires to grow the company out in nearly every dimension, which Team17 will benefit partners looking to publish with the company.

This has all been possible due to the £16.5 million investment from equity firm LDC that aims to support "the continued growth and success of the company".

“After a very impressive 2016 which again saw a record year financially, we are delighted to be able to welcome our new teamsters to Team17” commented Debbie Bestwick, MBE, CEO of Team17, in an emailed statement. “They bring with them a wealth of experience and ideas that will help us provide an even better service to our incredible Games Label partners around the world in 2017 and beyond. We have ambitious plans, the level of support we provide to our partners from our commercial and development teams is unprecedented and with the additional hires we are in a very strong position to take Team17 and all our partners to the next level of success.”