We’re sad to report that one of the founders of Yorkshire game developer and publisher Team17 and Game Republic Games Legend Martyn Brown passed away on Saturday 28th December 2024 aged 57.
Martyn was a major figure, not just in the Yorkshire and Northern England games community, where he co-founded Game Republic in 2003, but also the global games industry, where he had enjoyed a career for four decades, developing and publishing more than 50 games including the brilliant Alien Breed games and the world-conquering Worms franchise. After leaving Team17 in 2011, Brown set up his consultancy InsightForHire, as well as supporting studios including Double Eleven and New Star Games, establishing Activision’s mobile studio The Blast Furnace in Leeds and continuing to support Game Republic.
In spite of his considerable success and legendary status, Martyn was a humble, hilarious, mischievous and extremely helpful person who was always prepared to share his contacts or provide some invaluable business advice. Being in his company was such an enjoyable time, and colleagues, family and friends have been remembering stories such as being at his amazing GDC parties at the Vesuvio bar in San Francisco or accompanying him on his birthday trips to Galway in Ireland – anyone who knew Martyn will have endless funny stories to tell about his daft sense of humour and love of the silliness of life.
Jamie Sefton, Managing Director of Game Republic, remembers the first time he met Martyn after joining the GR network in 2008. “Martyn was just such a friendly, funny, generous and loving person – he was the first to welcome me into Game Republic with the words, “I hope you’re ready for this!” – meaning that I was about to have an enormous amount of ridiculous fun at GR events and other industry get-togethers such as GDC. When I attended my first GDC in 2009, I remember enjoying drinks and games of the dice game Perudo with Martyn and friends near Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco – and as it was my first GDC, was asked to go and buy pirate hats and accessories for everyone to wear. I couldn’t believe how much fun you could have working in games.”
“In time, I would get to know Martyn more and we discovered a shared passion for Leeds Utd and would occasionally go to football matches together to celebrate or commiserate. We also chatted regularly in-person and online about arcade machines and retro games – another major hobby we shared – and Martyn was so knowledgeable about them, helping me with my purchase of a Donkey Kong arcade machine (my Time Extension feature here with quotes from Martyn) and also setting up my Vectrex console to play games such as Star Wars and Tempest, one of Martyn’s favourite games.”
We gave Martyn Brown our Game Republic Games Legend award just a few weeks ago at GaMaYo on 21stNovember in Wakefield, which was presented by Simon Iwaniszak, Studio Director at Red Kite Games and kindly picked up and delivered to him by one of his oldest friends, John Dennis from Five Aces Publishing/New Star Games. Martyn was delighted with the GR award, sending a message of thanks and placing the award proudly on a shelf in his home – and it was so fantastic to see the hundreds of messages and outpouring of love for him on social media when he received it.
Martyn is a Yorkshire and industry legend, not just for his incredible record at Team17, but also for his friendship, support and help for hundreds more developers and people in games, and his influence will continue to ripple through the industry into the future. RIP Martyn – you were one-of-a-kind.
Our love goes out his wife Heather and children Jack, Harry and step-daughter Darcy.
We’ve included a few tributes here from game developers in Game Republic with their permission.
Charles Cecil MBE, Co-founder and CEO of Revolution Software
“Martyn was extraordinarily generous, both socially and professionally. Those who knew him will greatly miss that wonderful, mischievous smile that always greeted you. That generosity extended to wanting to mentor and support his fellow developers. As a founding member of Game Republic, Martyn drove, by example, the ethos that there is so much more to be gained by cooperating than by competing. How fantastic that he deservedly won the Game Republic Games Legend Award last month. He will be hugely missed by us all.”
Simon Barratt, CEO, Cooperative Innovations
“I first met Martyn around 25 years ago – but I really got to know him over the past 19 years. Initially, it was through Game Republic, countless industry events and nights out in Leeds (usually involving Akbars and MOJO!).
We had some amazing moments on Galway trips (an annual pilgrimage for his birthday), Perudo games, houseboats in Sausalito, commandeering people’s phones and trips to Hull vs Leeds matches, which varied in enjoyment for me…
Martyn brought humour, warmth, down to earth (sometimes brutal) advice and camaraderie wherever he went. Martyn’s impact through Team17, InsightForHire, The Blast Furnace, and New Star Games, as well as his contribution to Game Republic, is legendary but it’s the person that really made life just that bit more fun. Thank you Martyn.”
Alex Amsel, CEO, Tuna
“All I wanted to say was a big thank you to Martyn for all the support in our early years, and then the fun in the Game Republic and GDC years. It’s difficult to imagine the game development scene in Yorkshire without his presence, past, present, and future.”
Paul Colls, Creative Director, Sumo Digital
“It was during the time our small Fierce Kaiju team, when we struck out on our own, that Martyn’s true colours shone brightest. Sharing office space with us, he supported us in countless ways, especially with Biz Dev. His kindness, encouragement, and generosity were unforgettable. His advice—realistic, pragmatic, and honest—was exactly what we needed, exactly when we needed it. Most importantly, like all of us here, I was lucky enough to call him a friend. I’ll miss you mate.”