Yooka-Laylee, Overcooked!, Going Under and more speak out against publisher Team17’s NFT plans

A number of indie studios of games published by Team17 have spoken out against the publisher’s plans to launch Worms-branded NFT collectibles.

Aggro Crab, developer of 2020’s Going Under were the first to release a public statement via their Twitter account. “We at Aggro Crab condemn Team17’s decision to produce and engage with NFTs,” it said. “We believe NFTs cannot be environmentally friendly, or useful, and really are just an overall f***ing grift”.

The developer even said they wouldn’t work with Team17 again, unless they abandoned their NFT plans. “Needless to say, we will not be working with them on future titles, and encourage other indie developers to do the same unless this decision is reversed.”

The official Overcooked! Twitter account posted a similar sentiment from Ghost Town Games but stopped short at referencing Team17’s NFT plans specifically. It said “We don’t support NFTs. We think they carry too great an environmental and social cost.” Yooka-Laylee developer Playtonic Games added via their Twitter account. “We have no interest in utilising NFTs in any aspect of our business now or in future. Nor do we endorse the use of NFTs in the wider world.”

All three studios carried an extra message, encouraging fans not to throw their ire at the Team17 social media accounts. Aggro Crab specifically said “Please do not harass employees at Team17 or the devs under their umbrella, as this decision seems to have taken everyone off guard and likely came from the very top.”

Team17 are yet to respond further to these latest developments at the time of writing. Yesterday, the publisher clarified following the MetaWorms NFT announcement that they had “no plans to introduce NFTs or play-to-earn NFT mechanics into any of its indie games label titles.”

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— AGGRO CRAB (@AggroCrabGames) January 31, 2022