The CEO of Embracer Group, Lars Wingefors, has addressed some of the criticism the company has come under for taking investment from Saudi Arabia.

In a post to investors, the chief exec responded to questions about why it has allowed a $1 billion investment from a country with a rather poor record on human rights – framed as "a non-democratic country" in his response. 

Wingefors pointed out that Embracer already has investors from the MENA region and that he believes the Public Investment Fund (PIF) – parent company of Savvy Gaming Group (SGG), the organisation that actually invested – are a legitimate player in the games space.

"We genuinely believe that SGG, a fully commercial entity, has ambitions within gaming that are genuine in supporting the global ecosystem for our industry that are consistent with and important to the values and culture of our industry," Wingefors wrote.

"SGG is providing a sizeable, truly long-term capital investment to support our strategy and our management so that we may continue the successful growth of our commercial businesses. My values as a Swedish entrepreneur are unwavering. We are a value-based company, and our commitment to a decentralized operating model that empowers great people to make their own decisions will always remain.

"One of my duties as the leader of a global business is to make the difficult and complex decisions that I believe are in the best interest of our stakeholders including our employees, our customers, the gaming and entertainment industry and our shareholders. In the decision-making process to partner with SGG there were a lot of different considerations to be made, as always. I would like to highlight our high ambition of building a substantial and sustainable company, with its roots in Sweden but with a global presence through all the incredible companies that have joined along the way."