As we reported only a few days ago, Ebba Ljungerud announced his separation from Paradox Interactive due to strategic differences with the company. Now a scoop emerges that seems likely to relate to the abandonment of the former CEO.
The Swedish portal breakit.se has released online the news regarding an internal Paradox survey in which the serious problems of managing female personnel by the well-known videogame company are brought to the surface. Paradox has about 400 employees, but 133 participated in this survey. Of these, 44% complained of abuse against them, but the situation is aggravated when we focus on women, corresponding to 29% of the participants. 69% of Paradox employees said they had been abused and mistreated during their stay within the company.
“Abusive treatment is a systematic and all too common problem within Paradox,” states the report’s conclusion, which adds later: “There is a perception that managers are protected by the company.” The results of the questionnaire were also shown to Ljungerud on August 30, and only a few days later the resignation of the CEO was ratified.
As soon as the news spread, some former Paradox members spoke out publicly, including Susie McBeth who said she was raised that the matter was finally brought to the surface. Paradox itself then sent a note to PC Gamer confirming that it immediately mobilized to investigate the matter thoroughly and hire “an independent and impartial company specializing in this type of process”. Unfortunately, the issue of abuse of women becomes an increasingly alarming problem in the gaming industry, with one of the most striking cases represented by the issues that emerged in Activision-Blizzard.