Midlands & South West judging panel
Debbie Bestwick
Chief Executive Officer, Team17
Debbie is the CEO of Team17 a global games label, creative partner and developer of independent premium video games.
Debbie joined the games industry at the age of 17 starting out in indie retailing where she won Indie Retailer of the Year at just 18. Subsequently, she went on to co-found Team17 in 1990 at the age of 20.
Since becoming CEO in 2010, Debbie has focused on transforming Team17 into a global games publishing label with strong year on year growth. She has taken the expertise gleaned from decades of games development to support independent development studios bringing their intellectual property to market. In 2018, Team17 successfully completed the admission to the London Stock Exchange.
Over the years, Debbie has received various accolades; she was recognised at the Golden Joystick Awards in 2017 for her Outstanding Contribution to the UK Games Industry, and was honoured in 2015 with the Hall of Fame award at the European Women in Games Conference.
In 2016, Debbie was awarded an MBE for services to the video games industry.
