Team17—NFT project cancelled within 24 hours after partner studios threatened boycott; employees threatened with discipline for criticism
In January 2022, Team17 announced MetaWorms NFT project without informing most employees, including the social media team who faced public harassment. Partner studios Aggro Crab, Playtonic, and SMG condemned the project - Aggro Crab called NFTs 'an overall fucking grift' and vowed not to work with Team17 again. The project was cancelled within 24 hours. An internal FAQ warned employees that 'criticising or embarrassing Team17' publicly 'could be cause for disciplinary action.' Staff who opposed NFTs internally were ignored by management.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate Governance | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Worker Rights | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.332 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (medium ×1) × confidence (0.59)× agency (reactive ×0.75)
Evidence (1 signal)
NFT project cancelled within 24 hours after partner studios threatened boycott; employees threatened with discipline for criticism
In January 2022, Team17 announced MetaWorms NFT project without informing most employees, including the social media team who faced public harassment. Partner studios Aggro Crab, Playtonic, and SMG condemned the project - Aggro Crab called NFTs 'an overall fucking grift' and vowed not to work with Team17 again. The project was cancelled within 24 hours. An internal FAQ warned employees that 'criticising or embarrassing Team17' publicly 'could be cause for disciplinary action.' Staff who opposed NFTs internally were ignored by management.