Team17 co-founder Debbie Bestwick to step down from CEO role

Debbie Bestwick has been a leader at Team17 since she helped co-found it in December 1990, but she will be shifting positions at the company soon. Team17 has announced that Bestwick, who was currently the company’s CEO, will be resigning from the role in the near future. She will remain in the position only long enough to aid in identifying a successor and efficiently passing the torch along to said person.

Team17 announced Debbie Bestwick’s resignation in a press release on its investor relations site on March 28, 2023. While Bestwick is not stepping down from the role just yet, she will as soon as her successor is found. After the passing of power, Bestwick will not leave the company, but instead move to a non-executive role, serving on Team17’s Board of Directors and providing her experience and mentorship to the Board and senior management of Team17.

With franchise like The Escapists, Worms, Overcooked, and more under its belt, Team17 has been a major developer and publisher in the gaming scene under Debbie Bestwick's leadership.
Source: Team17

Bestwick shared a comment in the press release that she feels Team17 is in good hands with the leadership ecosystem at the head of the group:

This has probably been the hardest decision I've made, but I wouldn't have made it if I wasn't confident in the succession plans and the leadership team's ability to deliver the clear and focused strategy regarding our collective goals and ambitions. Ultimately, I want to spend more time with my children who have made sacrifices many times during my career and specifically to spend more time with my youngest before he goes to university.

With Team17 now unrecognisable compared to those early days, and with our fantastic senior team working seamlessly across the business and our growth strategy firmly in place, now is the time to focus on the next generation.

The future looks extremely bright for the Group, and I look forward to continuing to support the business to find my successor and then in a new capacity as a Non-Executive Director when that time arrives.

Team17 has had its ups and downs over the course of the past couple years. The group just published Dredge, which was well-reviewed, including here at Shacknews. However, the group also notably tried to get in on the NFT craze, ending in announcing a MetaWorms NFT project before canceling it just a day later due to backlash. Nonetheless, the company also still moves games like its popular Worms franchise as well.

With Bestwick stepping out of the CEO role, it will be interesting to see who fills her shoes at Team17. Stay tuned as we await further updates on this story.