In memoriam: Team17 cofounder Martyn Brown and different recreation devs who died in 2024

Martyn Brown, cofounder of Team17 and a 35-year recreation trade veteran, has handed away at age 57.

Brown began Team17 with Debbie Bestwick and Michael Robinson in 1990.

Brown helped create greater than 50 video video games together with Worms and Alien Breed. He additionally fashioned consultancy Perception For Rent and helped assist studios Double Eleven, Exient, The Blast Furnace and New Star Video games, based on GamesIndustry.biz.

Others who handed away just lately embody Martyn Brown (2024), Dan Van Elderen (2024), Masayuki Kato (2024), Matthew White (2023), Alex Cabal (2024), Joe Banks (2024), Thomas Kurtz (2024), Christophe Vivet (2024), Manny Granillo (2024), Erin Fusco (2024), Dylan Mecham (2024), Greg Hildebrandt (2024), Mike Brennan (2024), Rupert Easterbrook (2024), Uwe Mathon (2024).

Don Daglow, a longtime trade recreation developer, retains an inventory of those that handed away within the recreation trade on this hyperlink.

“Martyn handed away peacefully in his sleep at 8:17am, twenty eighth of December, 2024 surrounded by household, following a chronic battle with a collection of strokes,” Jack Brown wrote. “Know that he went out on his personal phrases listening to his favourite music and surrounded by family members.”

Fellow recreation builders are leaving memorials to Brown on social media, together with a Fb web page.

Kevin Dent wrote, “Such a tremendous man, he lived his life in prime gear and introduced the remainder of us together with him. There are only a few folks within the video video games trade who’re as infectious as Martyn, everybody most likely has a Martyn story and mine have been all optimistic and usually concerned assembly him at some obscure bar at a video video games trade occasion someplace on the planet.”

Kristy Payne wrote on Fb, “I’ve been processing the tragic information and questioning what can I say about this beautiful man Martyn Brown? He had an enormous sense of enjoyable, he was extraordinarily mischievous, completely enjoyable loving but additionally type, considerate and he all the time cared for his pals and stored in contact with everybody!
When he visited… he introduced me THE BEST pork pies/scotch eggs and the one crossed phrases we ever had over time, was about #HandbagGate when he hid a plate stuffed with fish goujons in my purse at The London Video games Pageant launch occasion… I opened my bag in a gathering the next day to essentially the most godawful stench and my purse was ruined!”

Payne added, “I discover it hilarious now however I didn’t discover it very humorous on the time! Evidently that beautiful Martyn despatched me a good looking new leather-based purse by the use of an apology… I shall dig out that purse he purchased me round 20 years in the past, and I’ll cherish it much more now! Farewell you beautiful, beautiful man… little question you’ll be hellraising, partying, ordering an enormous spherical of drinks, cuddling canines and taking part in Perudo wherever you’re!”

Kish Hirani stated he met Brown on the Team17 workplace when his engineers (PlayStation Dev Providers) visited the studio.

“We simply received alongside so extraordinarily nicely and little did we all know that this may develop into a friendship as shut as household,” Hirani stated.

“He made my PlayStation function simpler as he was extraordinarily nicely related, particularly within the indie house. If devs wanted assist or connections at PlayStation, he would all the time share my particulars for direct contact, which helped us all, since approaching PlayStation might in any other case appear daunting however contact and collaboration are all the time a very good factor,” Hirani stated on Fb.

He added, “We received rather a lot nearer after I used to be made redundant at PlayStation and received a prime secret XR mission with Porsche in 2016. Because it was a distant mission and my solely direct communication was with the Porsche HQ in Stuttgart, I wanted somebody to speak with ‘out loud’. I used to go keep at his place and do the annual group journeys to Galway for his birthday in January. He would have been 58 subsequent month.”

“I received quite a lot of the mirrored fame (and a very good dose of infamy) by affiliation with Martyn. I got here to count on random trade folks approaching me due to Martyn, he was a pure folks connector,” Hirani stated. “Like on the Nordic Sport occasion in San Francisco, GDC a couple of years again, when Rico Holmes, who I had by no means met or recognized, got here and simply kissed me on my cheek and uttered three phrases that I take as a badge of honor: ‘Martyn Brown’s good friend!’ I’m going to so miss you my dearest good friend, my brother from one other mom. RIP.”