Saber Interactive boss defends Embracer's acquisition strategy after "bittersweet" split

eurogamer.net:

Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch has defended Embracer's acquisition strategy, following its split from the Swedish conglomerate.

Last month Embracer sold its Saber assets and the companies separated. In a new interview with IGN, Karch said it was his suggestion that Saber leave Embracer, which he described as «bittersweet».

Embracer is undergoing a restructuring programme after a period of mass acquisition — Karch compares the company to Pac-man «gobbling up everything on the screen» — and has laid off eight percent of staff. Yet despite garnering a negative reputation in the industry as a result, Karch remains on «very good terms» with Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors.

«I was walking around GDC getting congratulated by people and having people telling me that Embracer is the evil empire,» said Karch. «Embracer is as small-town and homegrown of a large organisation as you're ever going to see. It's not a company which wants to spit out a thousand Lord of the Rings games regardless of whether or not those Lord of the Rings games are going to hurt the licence. That's not the way Embracer operates. It's not the way Lars operates. He loves IP. He loves games. He loves game developers. He got to start in comics. God knows how long ago, and he's just a good human being, and he cares about his people.»

Karch claims the «market lost patience», which has resulted in the huge amount of layoffs at Embracer. «I don't think the layoffs that Embracer incurred to any larger or degree than they incurred anywhere else, but Embracer, because it acquired so quickly, has gotten a reputation because it's had to lay off people quickly,» said Karch.

He continued: «You could state that a lot of the jobs that were lost were jobs that wouldn't have otherwise been created...Some of the studios that we're taking with us would never have been able to grow the