Following the collapse of a "verbal agreement" reportedly worth $2 billion with the Saudi-funded Savvy Games, Embracer Group entered into a brutal nine-month restructuring programme that resulted in the loss of some 1,400 employees and the cancellation of dozens of unannounced games. CEO Lars Wingefors, whose actions were recently defended by Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch ("give Lars a break"), in a new interview, says: "As a leader and an owner, sometimes you need to take the blame."
That restructuring is reportedly complete, separating the company into three presumably less-risky entities. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, the CEO used the opportunity to defend Embracers teams and their leaders: "It's been painful. But I still believe in what we do, in my teams, and in the vision we set out. I also believe the public markets, if we do it right, are a fantastic place to finance your business and tap into both investors and the debt market."
Wingefors says he has been dealing with many hits and criticism in Sweden and internationally. At the DICE Awards in February, Kinda Funny CEO Greg Miller joked from the stage that one thing people in the video game industry never want to hear is "The Embracer Group are here", before adding: "They've really f***ed up this place, haven't they?"
When asked how he deals with this kind of mainstream criticism, the CEO said: "As a leader and an owner, sometimes you need to take the blame, and you need to be humble about if you've made mistakes and if you could have done something different. I'm sure I deserve a lot of criticism, but I don't think my team or companies deserve all the criticism. I could take a lot of that blame myself. But ultimately, I need to believe in the mission we set out, which is still valid, and we are now enabling that by doing this [new] structure.”
What do you think? Could Lars Wingefores take some of the blame for the state of the Embracer Group and perhaps the impact its implosion has had on the industry? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source gamesindustry.biz]
Comments 22
Put your money where your mouth is, literally. Give yourself a pay cut. As CEO, ensuring that this kind of thing doesn't happen is your sole responsibility and you failed spectacular. Saying "sowwy evwywone" isn't enough.
"I take the blame but 1400 workers have the honour of falling on the sword for me"
@DennisReynolds Well said.
Yet he’ll still get his bonuses and stuff. Greedy ***** got what he deserved.
Lars Lossgefors more like...
Yes, you could. You should. But you won't. Not in any meaningful way at least.
That's ok, a little retail therapy will make him feel better. Maybe he can buy Apple and Nestle?
He probably had to scale back the upgrade to his yacht temporarily, so he’s likely feeling humble about his role in all this.
"I could take a lot of that blame myself."
He should take all of the blame himself.
I could, but I won't. Excuse me while I deploy my golden parachute...
It’s at least refreshing to hear a CEO put his hands up and take the blame so kudos to him.
Don’t see this happening anywhere else like Sony, MS, EA etc…
They did more damage than any good
@ATaco Absolutely. That's his only job and he failed miserably.
@ATaco I'm not here to defend Lars Wingefors, but FYI he only got TOTAL remuneration of around 1million Swedish Krone last year, which was only about $94,000 USD at the time. He likely gets paid (directly) far less than many of his employees. Taking an additional pay cut isn't going to solve anything.
Of course he owns something like 20% (edit) of the whole company so his worth is really tied to the success of the company.
@Dodoo I remembered when psn was hacked and it was down for over a month. The CEO (along with others) bowed and asked for ps3 gamers' forgiveness.
@Zenos I must be hungry because I thought you said
Embrace the Tacos
Lars, you’re an idiot. Quit and sell off the remaining studios to pad your retirement if you have to, but you could have taken the blame before laying of thousands. But even that wouldn’t have been enough because any businessman that thinks verbal agreements are good deserves a cardboard box on the street and nothing more, because even homeless people aren’t as dumb as you are.
Jesus Christ, this guy stokes my hatred more than any other exec
@Dodoo you also don’t see other ceos that trust a verbal agreement with the saudis. This guy is a giant dodo.
@naruball true but I meant more relating to layoffs and poor company performance etc.
@DeathlySW yeah that was a bad call for sure!
@Dodoo completely. Not trying to start any arguments, I just get really ticked off when this guy has anything to say.
So he's a good guy and Embracer isn't a bad company at all. I guess I'll fully trust them now {end: sarcasm}
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