Highlights
- Embracer Group has sold Saber Interactive and some subsidiaries for $247 million, aiming to reduce debt and improve cash flow.
- Saber Interactive will take the majority of its studios with it to Beacon Interactive and retains the rights to acquire 4A Games and Zen Studios within a certain time period.
- Embracer will also cease operations in Russia and transfer Russian employees to other companies.
Embracer Group has sold off some assets of Saber Interactive, the developer of the long-awaited Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake, for $247 million. A couple of years ago, Embracer Group seemed poised to become a major player in the video games space as it acquired multiple key studios like Eidos Montreal, Crystal Dynamics, and Limited Run Games, reaching an incredible 110 game development companies by April 2022 with plans to buy more. One of the companies acquired by Embracer was Saber Interactive in 2020, which became one of the conglomerate’s 12 major divisions thanks to its numerous subsidiaries.
These subsidiaries include 3D Realms, Demiurge, Tripware Interactive, Aspyr, which was added after the Embracer acquisition, and a number of Saber-branded studios located in different countries. However, a little more than three years after it purchased Saber, rumors began that Embracer was looking to sell off the KOTOR remake developer for $500 million. If true, this divestiture would be just one of several cost-cutting measures Embracer has been taking in the past year.
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Embracer announced on March 14 that it will be selling Saber Interactive and select subsidiaries to Beacon Interactive, a company controlled by Saber co-founder Matthew Karch, for $247 million. Saber will be taking more than half of its studios with it when it transfers to Beacon, with Embracer retaining the rest. In a move that Embracer is calling “win-win,” the partial divestiture of Saber Interactive is intended to improve cash flow and thereby help the company reduce its debt. For the past year, Embracer has been conducting numerous layoffs and shutting down studios in order to “maximize shareholder value.”
The State of Saber Interactive After Embracer Sale
Saber Interactive Subsidiaries Sold by Embracer Group to Beacon
- All Saber-branded studios
- 3D Realms
- DIGIC
- Fractured Byte
- Mad Head Games
- New World Interactive
- Nimble Giant Entertainment
- Sandbox Strategies
- Slipgate Ironworks
Saber Interactive Subsidiaries Retained by Embracer Group
- 34BigThings
- 4A Games
- Aspyr
- Beamdog
- Demiurge Studios
- Shiver
- Snapshot Games
- Tripwire Interactive
- Tuxedo Labs
- Zen Studios
Notably, Embracer will be ceasing all operations in Russia, and any Russian employees will be transferred to local companies to work solely with Beacon Interactive. In addition to keeping select studios after the sale, Saber Interactive also has the right to acquire 4A Games and Zen Studios within “a certain time period.” The details of that potential transaction were not disclosed in the announcement, but if that sale does come to pass, Embracer will retain the license and publishing rights to the Metro franchise.
It’s interesting to note that the outbound studios are taking a whopping 38 ongoing development projects with them, as well as proprietary tech like engines and game tools. For its part, the studios retained by Embracer have 14 games currently in the works, including Killing Floor 3 by Tripwire and another Teardown game that’s in development by Tuxedo Labs.
It’s also rumored that Borderlands developer Gearbox Software could be leaving Embracer Group, only three years after its acquisition in February 2021. Since June 2023, in addition to layoffs, Embracer has not only been selling select acquisitions but also shutting down studios entirely, like Saint’s Row developer Volition in August 2023.
