Do you know the Hug Group? The company that has a bad reputation for selling studios and laying off tons of people over the past year or so? Well, according to Saber Interactive founder Matthew Karch, we’ve all got publishers wrong. It’s, uh, not evil.
Regardless of what you think, this company has been in the news a lot over the past few years, usually because it’s either acquiring stuff or, more recently, selling stuff and laying off a lot of people as part of the company’s strategy. CEO Lars Wingefors said the restructuring was now complete. One of the most recent examples is Embracer’s sale of Saber to Beacon Interactive, whose current head has now offered his thoughts on the all-embracing Embrace.
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Matthew Karch, a former member of Embracer’s leadership, said in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz that he thinks people are being a little too harsh on the company and Wingefors, who he claimed were “tremendously maligned.”Kach cited the CEO’s wealth and the fact that Embracer’s share price has fallen significantly over the past year as reasons behind what he believes is the case, adding: “I think in relative terms it’s actually fallen more than almost any other company. ,Mainly because [Embracer] Nowadays it seems like a company where everyone likes to be picky. “
Kaci argued that Embracer’s layoffs were “no worse or more severe than what you would see in any other situation” and that he believed Wingerfors showed a “sense of fairness and reasonableness.” “The process that we had to go through to terminate the studio was absolutely… it killed us,” he asserted, later adding: “I would say Huggers worked harder than anyone to try to save as much work as possible post.”
Citing the recent sale of Borderlands developer Gearbox to Take-Two as an example, he said: “Before the announcement, the people who were there were still staying at the company, right? Because Lars didn’t want anyone to leave. , he really wants to keep everyone. So I think he has a bad reputation.”
A massive deal worth around $2 billion between Embracer and Saudi Arabia-owned Savvy Games Group reportedly fell through last May and was a factor in Embracer’s decision to cut spending, with Kach saying: “I believe we kind of put our Backed into a corner.” He added that he believed “the company didn’t really need the deal” but felt market pressure to ensure further growth (capitalism, eh?). “It was basically betting too big on something that ultimately didn’t pan out. It panned out for one reason or another,” he concluded.
Regarding the sale of Saber, Karch added: “We got congratulations from all sides at GDC for leaving the Evil Huggers behind. But they are the nicest people you’ll ever meet.”