Less than 24 hours after announcing a line of Worms-themed NFTs, game publisher Team17 is backing away from the project. The move comes in response to swift backlash over the announcement, including multiple developers who previously published games with Team17 issuing anti-NFT statements.

"We have listened to our Teamsters, development partners, and our games' communities, and the concerns they've expressed, and have therefore taken the decision to step back from the NFT space," Team17 announced in an official statement.

The original plan was for Team17 to partner with a third party called the Reality Gaming Group for the NFTs, which would not be introduced into Worms games but sold as "generative NFT art projects." Team17 said it would use a "side chain" of the Ethereum blockchain for the project, which would not use as much energy and be more environmentally friendly.