Paradox boss says he regrets "inappropriate behaviour" during company meeting
Recently-reinstated Paradox boss Fredrik Wester has said he regrets an incident of “inappropriate behaviour” towards another employee during a company meeting in 2018.
Wester admitted to the incident in a series of messages posted to Twitter this morning, following last week’s leak of a damaging union-led employee survey that revealed widespread “mistreatment” at the studio, such as “bullying and gender discrimination”.
Wester does not detail the exact nature of the incident he is admitting to, though says he wants to acknowledge it now “in the name of transparency and clarity”. When approached for more information by Eurogamer, a Paradox spokesperson declined to share more “out of respect for the privacy of the person involved”.
Last week’s leaked survey reported experiences of “mistreatment” at the Crusader Kings and Stellaris studio among almost half of the 133 staff who responded. Those who replied said the studio culture was “worse for women”.
The survey concluded that the issue was “systemic and far too common” at Paradox, and highlighted a culture of silence where “high-level perpetrators” were “shielded by the company”.
The leak came just as Wester, CEO back in 2018, returned to the company’s top job. Ebba Ljungerud, who served as CEO in the intervening couple of years, was replaced by Wester “due to differing views on the company’s strategy going forward”, Paradox said. Wester denied the change had anything to do with the survey results.
In response to the survey, Paradox said it was “working to reconcile the informal survey with our own internal research, and are eager to take action”. It will now arrange an external audit.
Wester’s full comments lie below:
“In the wake of the recently leaked survey to the press, there have been rumors and discussions about my role in this environment, citing a specific incident in 2018,” Wester wrote today. “In the name of transparency and clarity, I would like to shed light on this. Accountability starts from the top.
