After a $2 billion mess, new Embracer CEO hopes to rebuild trust

Embracer Group ballooned in size through ambitious mergers and acquisitions as it worked toward a $2 billion deal, only for that deal to fall through and start a tailspin of layoffs, studio closures, game cancellations, and rights pawning that uprooted the lives of thousands of people, gutted promising projects, and destroyed the company's reputation.

New CEO Phil Rogers, who entered the Embracer C-suite near the end of that tailspin after moving from the company's Crystal Dynamics - Eidos group, says it's been a "humbling" experience and hopes to salvage that reputation. Rogers stresses "learnings" from the company's acquisition spree and tacitly acknowledges the enormous debt it ran up.

"Funding for any M&A would come through organic cash flows, which is really important to mention," he says. In other words, Embracer isn't necessarily done buying up companies, but any future deals will be clearly and totally funded up front, not tied to, say, a speculative injection of cash.

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