Team17: Why Worms Won't Be On WiiWare

Following the announcement that Worms: Battle Islands will be a Wii retail title upon its release in November, not a downloadable WiiWare game as originally planned, Cubed3 got in touch with Team17 to clarify the situation and discover why the decision was made to change the game's delivery format.

Last year, when it was first shown off in playable form to press, Worms: Battle Islands was a WiiWare title, but in the last couple of days it has been announced that these plans have changed, with the game to be released on disc for Wii via THQ's Partners program and as a Team17-published PlayStation Network download for PlayStation Portable. Cubed3 questioned the reasoning for this change in plans, especially considering that Team17 had recently made public their strategy of releasing games through digital distribution rather than on disc. Debbie Bestwick, Managing Director of Team17, had this to say to us:

"With regards to Worms™: Battle Islands for Wii, a title we announced some time back, it became increasingly clear that by switching the game from WiiWare to a boxed retail Wii title, we would be able to make the game available to as many Worms™ fans on the platform as possible. We are pleased that through the THQ Partners program, we will have a strong retail presence for Worms™: Battle Islands on Wii coming into the important holiday season. The game is packed with great features and we feel it will certainly make a great gift for families. Our strategic focus hasn’t changed, however, and Team17’s forward thinking focus remains on developing games for digital platforms and self-publishing." - Debbie Bestwick, Managing Director, Team17 Software Ltd.

Worms: Battle Islands is scheduled for a November release and will presumably be sold at a budget price point, given that the United States RRP is set at $19.99 according to the information released by THQ. Until then, you can read our thoughts on the game from last year, when we were able to squish and explode some worms first hand at a Nintendo event.

Will you be setting aside some money for a Worms fix come November?