Team17 founder Debbie Bestwick made MBE


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-36506546

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@mcbone

Congratulations to her! Well deserved I think.

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@mcbone

To think all this time I have been with Amiga and never heard of her. I remember the original team of Martyn Brown, Andres Tadic and Rico Holmes plus Allister Brimble but never knew about Debbie.

Last edited by -Sam- on 13-Jun-2016 at 12:08 AM.

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@-Sam-

Quote:

-Sam- wrote: @mcbone To think all this time I have been with Amiga and never heard of her. I remember the original team of Martin Brown, Andres Tadic and Rico Holmes plus Allister Brimble but never knew about Debbie.

Martyn Brown was probably just as influencial but I guess he parted ways with Team17 slightly too soon to get a MBE and probably has the misfortune not to be female? Cynical I know but as you say, we've never heard of her!

I am happy to stand corrected if there is an equivalent article to this on on Martyn Brown:

Retro Gamer's feature on Martyn Brown

In all honesty the only reason Team17 are still in business is because of this guy:



Maybe give him a knighthood?!

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@mcbone

Is that BME stands for the following?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Look up MBE in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
MBE commonly refers to Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, a grade within the British order of chivalry.

@-Sam-

Me neither. Congratulations to her.

Not sure why Ant and Dec get all these awards though.

@Rob

To stop them whinging and crying of course, same as giving sweets to your kids...

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@Thread

Here is the only comparable synopsis to Martyn Brown's I could find. It seems that her main achievements are business orientated i.e. taking Team17 in to a Digital Download model and indie publisher. She does have some sort of self made role of trying to encourage women into the games industry and business.

Quote:

She also wants to actively mentor and encourage more young women to enter games, but also help those who are already in the industry to aim higher.

This sort of stuff is what they're looking for to get you on the honours list

It is for her business prowess that she seems to have been rewarded rather than her innovation in game design as per Martyn Brown. Horses for courses I guess, but I know who I'd like to have a pint/game of Worms with Better make it the CD32 version with Hey Boy Hey Girl or Right Here Right Now playing on the soundtrack function bring back the old 1990's vibe for a chin wag and banana bomb fest with Martyn Brown.

MCV - Top 100 Women in Games Debbie Bestwick

Note: Edit due to spelling error

Last edited by BigD on 12-Jun-2016 at 08:41 PM.

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@BigD

Quote:

Martyn Brown was probably just as influencial but I guess he parted ways with Team17 slightly too soon to get a MBE and probably has the misfortune not to be female? Cynical I know but as you say, we've never heard of her!

She's been the Commercial and Legal Director / Founder Memeber / CEO of the current version of Team 17 from 1990 till the present day, but haven't heard of her so she must have got the MBE because she's a woman, you sexist wanker...

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@broadblues

I've already proved that is part of it;

Quote:

She also wants to actively mentor and encourage more young women to enter games, but also help those who are already in the industry to aim higher.

In case you haven't been following the news, campaigning for more women in high positions in business and industry and calls for the number of women at board level to equal the number of men i.e. the shattering of the so called "glass ceiling", is a current issue for some. It was discussed on BBC Radio 5 Live within the last two weeks. So yes, a woman in the gaming industry campaigning for such things is more likely to get a MBE than a creative genius (Martyn Brown) who just made brilliant computer games. That is a fact, not sexism but a fact in 21st century Britain.

I personally think that it is naturally harder for some women to get to the top in business because they "choose" to take a break from their careers to have children. No amount of campaigning is going to completely mean that "equality of outcomes" is achieved but yes we should have "equality of opportunity".

I hardly think that me pointing out that Martyn Brown is at a disadvantage because he isn't a feminist social campaigner warrants abuse off you. Reported.

Last edited by BigD on 12-Jun-2016 at 08:16 PM.
Last edited by BigD on 12-Jun-2016 at 08:12 PM.
Last edited by BigD on 12-Jun-2016 at 08:11 PM.

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@BigD

Could you shed some light for me, what does MBE means?

Thanks!

@Lazi

Google is your friend:

GOV.UK The UK Honours System

Quote:

Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) This is awarded for a significant achievement or outstanding service to the community. An MBE is also awarded for local ‘hands-on’ service which stands out as an example to other people.

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@Thread

Looks like she does event speaking too:

Debbie Bestwick PG Connect Event Speakers

Quote:

Debbie has pioneered Team17’s leap into digital publishing working with a large number of Indie studios globally, and is the majority shareholder of the business.

I get it that as the Managing Director and majority share holder she is the new face of Team17 but to many of us historical Amiga owners we care less about the commercial switch to digital content (although I love Worms Revolutions primarily because of Matt Berry's voice over work) and care more about old 'big box' Amiga computer games from the 90s. Martyn Brown will always be the public face of that old/early Team17 at a time before they started relying on the Worms franchise primarily as their big money spinner and still took some creative risks, Flockers not withstanding Despite the Digital Distribution model giving them the ability to relaunch Alien Breed and Super Frog they have yet to code the next big killer game. I applaud them for helping indie developers and they seem to have a rock solid business model but as for exciting new games I get far more inspired by the likes of these guys:

Benitosub project Tower 57

Last edited by BigD on 12-Jun-2016 at 08:34 PM.

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@BigD

If Jay minner was still alive he should of got one as well for making a computer that was easier to understand and program .

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@Thread

Martyn wouldn't comment at the time but I think it's probably likely that Debbie bought out Martyn's 25% shareholder stake in the company when he left in 2011.

Game Insider - Martyn Brown leaves Team17

Good luck to him. He probably left on a high and if the culture of the company is now so commercial as to be constricting (my guess) then he was probably better doing his own thing. I can see that starting again would be fun just as it is with 'Theme Park' and you get to build another one in a different part of the world when your first one is a great success

He is an inspiration and deserves an honour in my book;

Linked In - Martyn Brown

From his Linked In page:

Quote:

I co-founded and developed one of the UK's longest established studios (Team17) and signed/developed and managed 'Worms' 1994-2010. I left Team17 to pursue a wider range of opportunities, which eventually including helping build "The Blast Furnace", a frontline mobile games development studio for Activision in 2012. 'm currently building a studio along with the people I trust the most, using every bit of that experience to do things the right way and deliver great games to a huge audience.

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When you think how many big name studios come and go, I am amazed Team17 kept going, I'm glad they also started to do other interesting products other than just another Worms game, after all the best Worms games is Worms DC.

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@BigD

Quote:

I hardly think that me pointing out that Martyn Brown is at a disadvantage because he isn't a feminist social campaigner warrants abuse off you. Reported.

Report me all you like but if I get an abuse report for calling you out on that then so be it, your follow up is just typical sexist bullshit, you can't just accept she derserves (or even say why she might not your opinion) you got say she's at an advantage because she's a woman, which is clearly crap in the games industry.

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@broadblues

Quote:

your follow up is just typical sexist bullshit, you can't just accept she derserves (or even say why she might not your opinion) you got say she's at an advantage because she's a woman, which is clearly crap in the games industry.

I didn't say she didn't deserve it but while we might think it's for services to the game industry, it more specifically is likely to be for giving women mentoring and encouragement to break a glass ceiling in business that in my opinion isn't really there. Martyn Brown would have been my choice due to his creativity not just business savvy but I don't write the honours list and so each to their own. In my opinion more men are prepared to put in the hours and accept the sacrifices that are necessary to make it to the top in business than women hence that is why there are more men at board level. It is right that a lot of women want to have children AND a career but the truth is that most women can't achieve and hold down a top executive/director level job AND have children so hence there will ALWAYS be more men at the executive level and society SHOULD be okay with that. Women have the choice not to have children but for the sake of our ongoing society and population level it is great that the majority still want them. If not we will be in the same situation as Japan and whole villages and towns will decline and even cease to be.

Japanese Times - Is Japan becoming extinct

Oh yeah, don't confuse anti-feminism with sexism or continue to be abusive on this forum. It is not a fact that 'equality of outcomes' is a good idea. It is a fact that 'equality of opportunities' is a good idea. Debbie Bestwick encourages and mentors women in the games industry and now runs Team17, whether that means she is worthy of an MBE above Martyn Brown is debatable. In my opinion Martyn Brown is a more inspirational choice and I'm sure he employs women too if they're the best candidate for the job at the time (the way it should be).

Last edited by BigD on 13-Jun-2016 at 12:09 AM.

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Wow, Team17 founder Debbie Bestwick made MBE !

Hmm,

Team17: check
Debbie Bestwick: check (recalling an old Amiga magazine, but other members were more popular)
MBE: WTF ????

Last edited by toRus on 13-Jun-2016 at 05:31 AM.

Never heard of her to be honest, even back then you usually hear of Martyn has the "head" of Team17... wasn't him who was around since the 17 Bit Software times?

(Edit spelling...)

Last edited by Nibunnoichi on 13-Jun-2016 at 07:58 AM.
Last edited by Nibunnoichi on 13-Jun-2016 at 07:54 AM.

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