Embracer CEO Says PC, Console Segment the 'Bad Guy', Video Games a 'Volatile' Business

He’s dumb and said it in the dumbest way possible but he’s not I think entirely wrong. Console is very weird and finicky about what is a hit or blows up compared to board games or mobile both which are cheaper to tank failures compared to gaming. To use an example the first descendant is the most painfully generic,average looter shooter I’ve seen in years with a downright terrible world and variety in a super saturated genre that somehow is a hit but Concord which has pretty cool lore and very good to amazing gameplay in a genre that’s not as saturated as the looter shooter couldn’t get no traction. I think that’s maybe what he meant by volatile but maybe that’s too generous a reading lol .

It's only volatile because you aren't investing in creativity or even what the "core gamer," wants!

Instead you continue to chase predatory addiction schemes that have hooked Millions. Yet these idiots and many reporting in the gaming space don't seem to get it yet: that those Millions are not gamers anymore than tik tok scrollers are tech enthusiasts.

All the while creative devs, some with a long history of diverse contributions to the space are the ones suffering or outright fired out of existence because of this greed driven madness.

It's these morons doing the bidding of the investment firms and shareholders that have largely taken over the industry that are the problem and true volatility. Systematically eliminating talent on massive scale due to their Mismanagement.
Scum. Plain and simple.

Well looks like it's time to sell all of my consoles, games and accessories, and invest in some board games.

Have PS5, games, 1x Dualsense, 1x Dualsense Edge, Thrustmaster T150, 32" 4K/HDR monitor. Will trade for Warhammer 40K starter set with paints, preferably Dark Angels or Space Wolves.

This guy needs some sort of Biblical-ass punishment. I dunno, handcuff him to a chair and fire tomatoes at his face out a pitching machine. For 50 years.

Make good games then we will come

Well, don't sell your soul for money you're not guaranteed to have, then!

With all the nasty lay off and closing down studios like they are nothing, i don't think anyone wants to hear let alone take seriously what Embracer CEO said about video games business.

He forgot to add the words "stinky" "poopy" and "meanies".

@Vivisapprentice *Make good games with budgets under $10,000,000.

Outside of kingdom come, their games are always bland, uninspired and frankly boring. Its a competitive market and if your games are as lackluster as embracers have been, yeah your gonna have a bad time

Of course the business is gonna be volatile if you over spend money on companies you know you can't fully support at the scale they're at. You're the one that made it volatile in the first place, Wingefors

Why do investers still listen to this moron? Time for the board to vote him out.

Wingefors should be literally put in the same situation as the two guys in the thumbnail.

Art in general is volatile investment. The only investors that should bother with video games are ones that are ok with short term loss and high risk.

It can take decades to build up a brand, get an experienced team, and ROI.

This is why Nintendo is mostly consistent, they plan long term; and accept that failure is part of the industry.

Art is subjective. You cannot predict popularity.

Though an investor who is in it for love, can at least ensure a game is fun.

And maybe have restraint on spending for unnecessary things.

He is wrong for many reasons. He is not wrong that the current “core gamer” market is unpredictable. I do believe that’s because the volume is too high. Great games can go unnoticed while flash in the pan games can garner a huge audience. It’s a tough industry but embracer’s plan was doomed from the start and it never really made sense.

Yes, the competition for core games is tough, they are expensive to make, and core gamers are demanding.

And the worst thing: There is no save formula for success! The closest kind for that is the „Ubi formula“, and even that doesn’t always work.

No, I think you need teams of very talented people and the patience to finance them for many years, plus the absence of commands like „create the next entry of this or that IP“ and „play it save“. Probably the opposite of what Lars Wingefors is willing to do.

@KundaliniRising333 couldn’t have put it better myself

This idiot is 98% reason the game industry is falling apart,
The reason for actual talented devs been booted
And it's also funny that he believes he knows anything about the gaming world he is part of, I wish sony or Microsoft would buy his dirtbag company and then dismantle it

He has a point but didn't really communicate it properly and made himself look a bit of a knob.

The mobile sector is more “predictable” because it relies on addiction and manipulative psychological practices. Making a great console game is much harder.

Admittedly however, there are things that need to be done better, especially around visibility, the lack of which is a problem on consoles in particular and can lead to good games not being easily discoverable.

He’s such a token RoboCop villain. If you think it’s too volatile, maybe don’t keep buying studios and closing them before they’ve released a game.

@Hyena_socks I'll have you know that Robocop's Clarence Boddicker is arguably one of the greatest villains of all time.

Well, almost every aspect of our wonderful free market society is "managed" by some doofus manager who knows very little to nothing about the subject matter, twists a few numbers in his favour on the expense of others and then moves to the next venture he can exploit, while leaving a wreck behind.

@Yagami how am I bias im not even getting the game I just checked out the beta is all. The looter shooter genre is way more over saturated it’s not even close like theres Overwatch,Marvel Rivals which is another game that’s going to be big even though it’s gameplay is mediocre as hell just because it has marvel heroes and that’s about all I can think of.

Embracer are a bunch of W⚓s

Kingdom Come 2 is looking so good. Just had my computer built for this game and stalker 2. I had minor bugs in the first KC, but it was easily a 9/10 in my book

I agree with him. Gamers say that they want certain games, but then proceed to not buy them. I honestly think console and PC game success is mostly luck, based highly on release window and good word of mouth. But even good word of mouth can't save a game.

Yeah, maybe next time don't go on a buying spree just to try to flip your acquisitions to Saudi Arabia later with a higher price.

Also, gaming market is quite predictable, but people insist on not giving the players what they want.

I think he means that there is a large number of entitled console gamers who think the industry revolves around them. Any game not catering to their tastes and whims is dismissed as ‘casual’. The majority of the games-playing public see it as a feature on another device, not a thing unto itself.

I imagine "scummy platform things" can account for some "lumpiness."

TFW you realize you're more erudite than people who make 8 figures while you're feeling the sting of $70 video games.

Did this guy just figure out that entertainment is a volatile industry? It's worth remembering that this guy has gone bankrupt not once, but twice before. Why anyone gave him startup investment money this time, let alone on the scale he's been spending, I'll never understand, but the problem isn't Lars, it's the uninformed doe eyed bankers that handed him checks expecting the third time's the charm based on vague ideas and buzzwords.

We need a line, like in the Airplane movie, and just deliver backhands to him. Until, he understands that he isn't the business, it's the games that the company produces.

@Yagami maybe because the characters are unique and the game plays extremely well and doesn’t rely on T&A and mediocre gameplay like First descendant . Valorant has great gameplay too but it’s characters aren’t unique anymore than Concords that really is only Overwatchs thing but that find an audience.

Embracer has the problem of too many games and many I see in the bargain bin from THQ Nordic. Some I like, others I never hear about or care for. I repsect them for trying and audiences are particular for sure it's why at ONL I was like yeah there is NOTHING for me so clearly some people have interest in these and the crowd made it clear at times.

Board games are fair but depends how that audience can be strict just as much as us console/PC or how the mobile is.

Even as someone not into zombies I was like what makes these DISTINCT. I picked up Zombi U, Dead Rising and would others if they are distinct in gameplay/ideas but they aren't so why should I care. XD Other than Splitterhead which I won't buy but have my eye on out of curiosity. That's as not a horror person & sticking to tactics/hack n slashes & finding Action Adventure, Shooters & Racing to suck a lot these days.

So buying retro releases in those genres if mechanics are compelling/understanding the mechanics done before in games with better competitive games in the past, not safe competition of now.

I'll stick to waiting for Space Marine 2 to come out as like the only big release I care about as liked 1 and not a Warhammer fan either I just want a decent shooter for singleplayer as binging PS3/360/Wii era ones as it is already, wait on Steam World Heist 2 if a physical otherwise I may digital but other than that what Gori Cuddly Carnage and Akimbot. Other than those Indies 2024 is just retro pickups for me of old consoles and my 2022/23 pickups of PS4/Switch/Xbox One.

Gearbox is mostly 2K at this point with Borderlands/Tiny Tina licensing and focus and maybe publishing but otherwise did or didn't stick with Embracer now I forget, Crystal Dynamics is busy with various projects of TR, whatever legacy game I doubt regardless of the Legacy of Kain survey and the Perfect Dark support or whichever, Edios I can't remember what they are up to.

THQ had a showcase so we know what they have of Wreckfest 2, Gothic and others and they vary of appeal to whichever audiences.

The others under Embacer can't remember as they go down. There is many though.

What Coffee Stain had Goat Sim Remastered at ONL, and probably going fine with Satisfactory.

They have a lot of studios/publishers but too much is thrown at the wall to see what works or get sales from whatever they can which can go either way.

Like I had no idea some of their 2D platformers existed like Rad Rodgers, I don't care for them but they still most I found in bargain bins as my first time seeing them, that's a big problem, too many games, barely hearing about them because I don't see much point in following them if most games I care about from them are Darksiders and Wreckfest, that's about it.

It's not like when Sony/Microsoft did when starting with PS1/Xbox for a console and third parties do their part and with a console on top of experimenting as first party which Embracer doesn't have to worth about.

But it feels just as aimless as that or as aimless as Microsoft are with just eh we have studios, some will appeal, some have their fanbases already, we have service games and other types, just make them let them be creative.

That only goes so far.

Embracer has the same problem, I don't always remember, hear or care about their games.

I may not Darksiders 4 if done by the 3 team as sure their soulslikes work (Chronos, Remnant and Darksiders 3) but I'm not interested. Wreckfest 2/Wrecreation could be fine.

Man is a walking, talking idiot box. Like listening to a blue jay sing while it beats up the sparrows at the feeder. Sorry Lars, let me know when your next gamble flops and then go cry me a river about how board game suck too.

@Fighting_Game_Loser He never intended to support it. He bought up all these developers because he had a useless verbal agreement with the saudis and their Saavy Games Group, they backed out and he played victim. I don’t tend to speak ill of people, but this guy is an exception and I’m unashamed to loudly exclaim that he’s a complete moron.

@ApostateMage absolutely no argument, he is! I was thinking more the slimy OCP suits, not The Old Man, maybe Chip.

It's only volatile if the company is focusing on everything else BUT making the game fun.