Arc Raiders and The Finals developer Embark Studios has announced the departure of co-founder and CCO Rob Runesson after he faced allegations of sexual misconduct towards a female streamer who frequently played The Finals. Although Embark notes that an outside investigation didn’t substantiate the accusations, Runesson and the company have “mutually agreed to part ways,” as shared in a statement to IGN.
The original accusations were shared on Reddit and other forums, in which a third party claimed that Runesson pressured an unnamed female streamer into having a romantic and sexual relationship. The accuser contends that the streamer felt uncomfortable with the topic, but was unable to push back because her streams of The Finals made her financially dependent on being able to continue doing them.
IGN reached the female streamer in question, who declined to answer any questions on the record. The only thing she did say is that the allegations noted above were presented in a misleading way or out of context. Beyond that, no further details were shared.
Earlier today, Embark released the following statement about Runesson’s departure:
“Our leadership team was recently made aware of allegations against an Embark employee. We take these matters seriously, and as a part of our process for addressing any types of allegations, we immediately hired a law firm to conduct an external investigation. The investigation did not substantiate the allegations, but we found the situation unsustainable and mutually agreed to part ways with Rob.”
Prior to co-founding Embark, Runesson spent two decades at EA/DICE and helped shape the Battlefield franchise and Mirror’s Edge. Runesson has yet to comment about his exit from Embark.
