It wouldn't be unfair to say Embracer Group has garnered something of a bad rep within the game industry. After spending years dropping cash hand over fist to acquire a vast portfolio of game studios and franchises, the Swedish conglomerate suddenly pumped the brakes and said that, actually, it needed to become sustainable.

In doing so, it quickly gutted the very studios and teams it had spent years acquiring, laying off around 1,400 workers in six months before eventually divesting some of its biggest assets in Gearbox Entertainment and Saber Interactive.

So, who needs to shoulder the responsibility for Embracer's colossal failings? Some might point the finger at Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors, who earlier this year said the company would "always maximize shareholder value in any given situation." Not Saber Interactive boss, Matthew Karch, mind you. The CEO, who recently bought back the company from Embracer, believes Wingefors is actually being unfairly maligned.

Speaking to IGN about the reality of life under the Embracer umbrella, Karch suggested the conglomerate was more akin to a "small-town and homegrown" organization than a sprawling empire. "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 license. 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," he said.

"But when the market shifted, the market lost patience. And when the market lost patience, hard decisions had to be made because there was just no way to sustain everything that was going on. And so that's why the layoffs occurred."

Read more of the quotes, including why Karch believes Wingefors is being unfairly maligned, over at Game Developer.

also like... I get what they mean? but on some level my gut says that the phrase "He loves IP." should be a venomous accusation spat forth with pointed finger and hateful eyes, heard with gasps and shudders by the crowd, and flinched at by your loved ones, not a defense.