Team17 staff decry poor working conditions and "monumentally stupid" NFT project

gamedeveloper.com:

A number of Team17 staff have lambasted the Worms developer over its decision to pursue an NFT project despite employee concerns, and claim the now-scrapped NFT initiative was simply the latest in a growing number of issues at the UK company.

In a damning report published by Eurogamer, over a dozen anonymous Team17 workers expressed disappointment at the way the NFT announcement was handled, largely because management refused to listen to staff concerns ahead of time.

According to those sources, some employees were kept in the dark with regard to the studio's NFT plan, which was quickly scrapped after a public backlash, while those who were aware of the project had voiced their disapproval to no avail.

Team members were also reportedly warned against publicly expressing their own opinions on NFTs in an internal FAQ, with the document noting that "criticising or embarrassing Team17, its contractual partners, or fellow Teamsters in a public forum could be cause for disciplinary action."

Once the company had back-pedalled, an internal town hall meeting was held to apologize to staff, although those who spoke with Eurogamer suggested the move felt distantly "political."

"[Management] did it, and they left it for a day and a half to simmer and see what would happen. It wasn't even that people might lose their jobs [if developers pulled their games], or that the company was going downhill," said one staff member who attended the meeting.

"It was that the managers were doing something so monumentally stupid without a thought for those who would actually bear the brunt of it. They didn't apologise to staff, even the community managers who were subjected to a barrage of abuse because of it."

There were other concerns, too. Employees