Embracer CEO defends taking $1B from Saudi Arabia

pcgamer.com:

Embracer Group announced last week that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, through its Savvy Gaming Group, had made a $1 billion investment(opens in new tab) in the company, granting it an 8.1% stake in Embracer Group. It was the most recent in a series of big moves into the industry made by Saudi Arabia through SGG and the Electronic Gaming Development Company, which have been controversial because of the nation's notorious repression of human rights and, more specifically and recently, the implication of its de facto ruler in the murder and dismemberment of a journalist.

In a subsequent message(opens in new tab), Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors defended the move, saying that he understands people have «different views on this topic.» The decision to accept the investment was not taken lightly, he said, and will not change how the company is run.

«I want to be clear that Embracer will continue to be operated by me, our operative CEOs and management teams across the entire Group,» Wingefors wrote. «Embracer is built on the principles of freedom, inclusion, humanity and openness. The transaction with SGG will not change this in any way. Embracer is still controlled by the people working in our Group. Together, we control a significant majority of the votes in the company.

»SGG will own slightly more than 5 percent of the votes and 8 percent of the capital and they have invested in Embracer because they support our current vision, strategy, and leadership, not to change it."

As for why exactly Embracer would accept investment from what Wingefors gently described as a «non-democratic country,» the answer seems to come down to the simplest and most obviously predictable answer: Money is money. The company already has multiple