In memory of Team17 co-founder Martyn Brown and other game developers who passed away in 2024
Martyn Brown, co-founder of Team17 and 35-year gaming industry veteran, has died at the age of 57.
Brown founded Team17 in 1990 with Debbie Bestwick and Michael Robinson.
Brown has been involved in the development of more than 50 video games, including “Worms” and “Alien Breed.” He also founded the consulting company Insight For Hire and supported the studios Double Eleven, Exient, The Blast Furnace and New Star Games GamesIndustry.biz.
Other recently deceased people include Dan Van Elderen (2024), Masayuki Kato (2024), Matthew White (2023), Alex Cabal (2023), Joe Banks (2024), Thomas Kurtz (2024), Christopher Vivet (2024), and Manny Granillo (2024), Erin Fusco (2024), Dylan Mecham (2024), Greg Hildebrandt (2024), Mike Brennan (2024), Rupert Easterbrook (2024) and Uwe Mathon (2024).
Don Daglow, a longtime game developer in the industry, keeps a list of the deceased in the gaming industry on this link.
“Martyn passed away peacefully in his sleep at 8:17 a.m. on December 28, 2024, surrounded by his family, after a long battle with a series of strokes,” Jack Brown wrote. “Know that he went out on his own terms, listening to his favorite music and being surrounded by his loved ones.”
Other game developers left tributes to Brown on social media, including a Facebook page.
Kevin Dent wrote: “What a great guy, he lived his life at his best and took the rest of us along with him. There are very few people in the video game industry who are as infectious as Martyn. Everyone probably has a Martyn story and mine were all positive and usually involved meeting him in an obscure bar at a video game industry event somewhere in the world.”
Kristy Payne wrote on Facebook: “I have processed the tragic news and am wondering what I can say about this lovely man Martyn Brown? He had a huge sense of fun, he was extremely mischievous, totally fun-loving but also friendly, considerate and he always looked after his friends and kept in touch with everyone!
When he visited me he brought me THE BEST pork pies/scotch eggs and the only crossed word we’ve had over the years was over #HandbagGate when he dropped a plate full of fish goujons in mine at the opening party of the London Games Festival Hid my handbag… When I opened my bag in a meeting the next day, it smelled terrible and my handbag was ruined!”
Payne added: “I think it’s hilarious now, but at the time I didn’t think it was very funny! Needless to say, dear Martyn sent me a beautiful new leather handbag as an apology… I’m going to dig out the handbag he bought me about 20 years ago and I’ll appreciate it even more now! Farewell, you lovely, lovely man… no doubt you’ll be raising hell, partying, ordering a huge round of drinks, cuddling dogs and playing Perudo wherever you are!”
Kish Hirani said he met Brown at Team17’s office when his engineers (PlayStation Dev Services) visited the studio.
“We just got along so well and had no idea that it would become such a close friendship, like a family,” Hirani said.
“He made my PlayStation role easier as he was very well connected, especially in the indie space. When developers needed help or contacts at PlayStation, he always shared my details for direct contact, which helped us all, as otherwise contacting PlayStation could seem daunting, but contact and collaboration is always a good thing,” Hirani said Facebook.
He added: “We became much closer after I was let go from PlayStation and was given a top-secret XR project with Porsche in 2016. Since this was a remote project and my only direct communication was with Porsche headquarters in Stuttgart, I needed someone to speak “loudly.” I always stayed with him and went on the annual group trips to Galway for his birthday in January. He would have been 58 next month.”
“Much of the reflected fame (and a fair bit of infamy) has come from my association with Martyn. Because of Martyn, I expected random people in the industry to approach me. He was a real people broker,” Hirani said. “Like at the Nordic Game Party in San Francisco, GDC a few years ago, when Rico Holmes, who I had never met or known, came and simply kissed me on the cheek and said three words that I consider a badge of honor: “Martyn Brown’s friend!” I will miss you so much, my dearest friend, my brother from another mother. REST IN PEACE.”
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