Egil Strunke has confirmed that he’s left Embracer Group as chief operating officer, announcing that he’s ready to “embark on a new mission” after he “reached a checkpoint”.
In a post published on LinkedIn today (November 6), Strunke revealed that he departed the company last week with what he described as “mixed feelings.”
“On one [I’m] hand grateful for having had the chance to work with the one-of-a-kind Lars Wingefors and all the other AMAZING colleagues (too many to mention!) which I will be sad to leave,” he wrote. “On the other hand [I’m] excited about the opportunities that lie ahead – starting and building my own company: Strunke Games.”
He explained that Strunke Games’ goal is to “support and be involved in some of the most interesting gaming studios, companies and projects around the globe as the games industry continues its constant change.”
As explained in the LinkedIn post, Strunke spent eight years at the company across two four-year stints - the first between 2011 and 2014, and the second between 2019 and now. He described the 2019 stint as “a sizzling, acquisitional hotbed where new entrepreneurs and exciting studios were added quarter by quarter.”
He wrote: “Growing employees 14x to 16,500 and revenue [eight times] to circa 40 billion SEK [$3.68 billion / £2.97 billion] in four years has been an amazing experience and adventure. Although the last year has been rough, in line with general market changes and industry consolidation, I am positive that Embracer will come out stronger and with a long, bright future ahead of them.”
This year, several Embracer Group-owned game studios have been impacted by layoffs, including Crystal Dynamics, the company behind Gex and Tomb Raider titles such as Rise of the Tomb Raider. Additionally, Saints Row developer Volition was shut down in August - the studio explained that the decision had been made as part of a “restructuring program to strengthen Embracer”.
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