Embracer Group it is certainly not one of the most popular companies at the moment. Over the years it acquired a huge number of gaming teams and intellectual properties, but then found itself laying off and closing studios. Now, Matthew Karch – founder of Saber Interactive which recently separated from Embracer Group – says its former parent company it's not “evil”.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Matthew Karch said he thought people were a little too hard on the company and with Wingefors (the CEO of Embracer Group), who he said was “much maligned.”
Karch cites the wealth of the CEO and the fact that Embracer's stock value has fallen significantly over the past year as reasons behind the criticism leveled at the company.
Embracer Group's management of layoffs
Arguing that i layoffs at Embracer “were no worse or more significant than those that occurred in any other situation,” Karch suggested that Wingefors demonstrated “a sense of fairness and reasonableness.”
“The process we had to go through to finish the studios was absolutely… it killed us,” he said, later adding: “I would say Embracer has tried more than anyone to save as many jobs as possible“.
He then cited the recent sale of Borderlands developer Gearbox to Take Two as an example of this, saying, “The employees that were inside that company stayed at that company until after the announcement, right? Because Lars didn't want to let anyone go, he really wanted to keep everyone.”
As for the Saber saleKarch added, “We were complimented left and right at GDC for leaving the evil Embracer. But these are the nicest people you'll ever meet.”
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