How Wakefield video games developer Team 17 saw its profit rise to £29.1m in 2021

Revenue for the year was £90.5m, up 9 per cent from £83m in 2020. While pre-tax profit was up 11 per cent from £26.2m to £29.1m.

The video games developer had to embrace remote, studio and hybrid working across 2021.

Debbie Bestwick MBE, CEO of Team17, said: “2021 was unquestionably a key year for the group in terms of handling a second year under pandemic restrictions that has affected every one of us - be that our people, development, licensing, platform or outsourcing partners.

“I can’t thank each of them enough for their support as we build out towards our long-term strategic goals, building a Group that we can all take pride in.

“We’ve invested heavily across our business in terms of people, processes and infrastructure and will continue to do so; we have a substantial, fully funded Employee Benefit Trust (EBT), set up in 2018 and we will ensure that 100 per cent of our group employees are shareholders by April 2022, funded by the EBT as in previous years.”

The Wakefield-based firm released 12 new games with four existing titles launched on wider platforms.

Its portfolio was supported by an increasing depth of back catalogue titles, representing 77 per cent of revenues.

Around 500 digital revenue lines were delivered across its Games Label portfolio. While owned intellectual property (IP) increased to 22 per cent of total revenues.

Team 17 also said it increased its commercial experience in mobile in-app and subscription models.

In January 2021, the business completed the £12m acquisition of Golf With Your Friends (GWYF), strengthening the Games Label’s owned IP portfolio.

It also acquired StoryToys for an initial cash payment of £19.2m in July 2021, a developer and publisher of edutainment apps.

Ms Bestwick said: “We collectively have a fantastic opportunity to build a remarkable group and I’m delighted to say we have delivered another year of growth, which is testament to the contributions made by all our people across the group and the success of our growing content portfolio.

“Our group now has its most diverse range of owned IP; third-party and licensed IP targeting the broadest audiences across multiple platforms.

“We have made great strides over the last few years to build out our portfolios, laying strong foundations for future years.

“I really look forward to sharing more from Team17, astragon, StoryToys and The Label throughout 2022.

“The acquisitions have enabled us to expand not just our content portfolio but also our skillset and customer reach, taking us into new territories and markets, and enabling us to leverage the Group collectively in a way we could never have imagined a few years ago.”

Team 17’s headcount had grown to 265 at year end, up from 250 the previous year and it strengthened its executive leadership team with Emmet O’Neil, CEO of the StoryToys, joining and Michael Pattison from Sony Interactive Entertainment being appointed as CEO of the Games Label in October 2021.

The developer completed three strategic acquisitions in January 2022, which combined are expected to be immediately earnings accretive in the 2022 financial year.

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