THQ Nordic AB CEO Apologizes for the 8Chan Thing

So if you recall, last week THQ Nordic really dropped the ball and in a hugely, let’s say “controversial” move, decided to host an AMA on 8Chan, the place best known as a refuge for racism, fascism, misogyny, and child porn. It’s not exactly the kind of place you want associating with your brand, and upon discovering their mistake, the AMA was wrapped up pretty quickly and the guy who claimed responsibility for having the idea, Philipp Brock, promptly apologized and said it would never happen again. We assumed that was the end of things, but as some people pointed out: THQ Nordic itself never actually apologized for greenlighting this buffoonish idea.

However, that is no longer true: Lars Wingefors, the CEO of Gmbh's parent company, THQ Nordic AB, has finally released a letter of apology to the public.

This letter is to offer my sincerest apologies and regret for THQ Nordic GmbH Vienna's interaction with the controversial website 8chan last Tuesday, February 26. I condemn all unethical content this website stands for. Even if no one within the THQ Nordic Group would ever endorse such content, I realize simply appearing there gave an implicit impression that we did.

As Co-Founder and Group CEO of THQ Nordic AB, I take full responsibility for all of THQ Nordic GmbH's actions and communications. I have spent the past several days conducting an internal investigation into this matter. I assure you that every member of the organization has learned from this past week's events. I take this matter very seriously and we will take appropriate action to make sure we have the right policies and systems in place to avoid similar mistakes in the future.

As a Swedish based, fast growing group, we firmly support equality and diversity. We are also working actively to combat discrimination, harassment, and misconduct. We are already in the process of developing new work processes, based on the United Nations' SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and using the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) standards, and we will accelerate this work going forward.

Strong words, but considering what happened, that seems appropriate.