Hell on Earth is a World War II-themed first-person shooter developed by Black Matter, an indie shooter that landed on early access in 2019 after a successful crowdfunding on Kickstarter, a full-fledged game on PC last year, and a few months later on the PS5/XSX/XSS platform.
Team17 is the developer/distributor of the Worms series, and it is also the publisher of Hell on Earth, and the success of Hell on Earth seems to have led Team17 to invest more money in it. Now, it is officially announced that Team17 has completely acquired the IP of Hell on Earth.
The initial amount of the acquisition is £31 million, in addition to up to £15 million in contingent payments. Team17 said it will extend the life of Hell on Earth by offering more DLC content, continued support for the game, exploring the possibility of a sequel, and other commercial means.
Team17 also said they will create a "hardcore game label," and Hell on Earth is the first game under that label. Team17 said it will use dedicated funding to provide the best core game content for players around the world.
Max Rea, founder and CEO of Black Matter, said: "This (acquisition) is a great opportunity for our fans and a logical next step in the development of the Hell on Earth brand. Team17 loves our brand and player community as much as we do, and the brand has successfully expanded to multiple platforms. We've been working closely with our good friend Team17 over the past few years, and we firmly believe this acquisition is a logical step that allows us to further deliver better content to a passionate community of players and provide new ways of playing for players in the future." We are excited to continue working with Team17 to move on to the next phase of Hell on Earth." ”
Hell on Earth is now available on PS5/XSX/XSS/PC. Black Matter has previously said it has no plans to launch PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game.