Gimme: Team 17 To Publish Sheltered

Sheltered is a game of post-nuke survival in which the player is at the head of a family living in an underground bunker. Our Alec took notice when it reached Kickstarter a couple of weeks ago and he wasn't alone. With four days left on the clock, the project has reached passed its £15,000 goal and is on the verge of raising £20,000 in bottle caps and other assorted currency. It wasn't only pledgers who took note of the pixel art survival sim, companies were also watching, notably Team 17 who have snapped up publishing rights.

Team 17's managing director Debbie Bestwick had this to say:

The minute we saw the concept we absolutely knew we wanted Sheltered to join our indie partner program, in fact it was a total must! I think the process from our 1st look to signing it actually took around 48 hours, which shows not only the speed of which we move but also the belief both parties have in each other. Sheltered will be a very special game with huge potential, we’re really excited about working with Dean and Sonny over the course of the year and helping them create their first commercial indie game!

The house that Worms built (or at least maintained for many a year) is making a strong move into third-party publishing and Sheltered is the sixth title in their new portfolio. The others are prison break-out game The Escapists, stealth game Light, cartoon brawler Overruled!, platform-puzzler Schrödinger’s Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark and Super Meat Boy-like sadistic platformer Penarium.

First public access to the games isn't far off - Sheltered isn't due until next year but The Escapists hits Early Access on July 9th, closely followed by the full release of Light five days later. The publishing arm of the company seems like an indicator of changing times in the local industry as well as the wider scene, and it's an interesting development in the life of one of Britain's oldest surviving studios. We'll be investigating in the near future.