Another major acquisition has gone through by Embracer Group, formerly known as THQ Nordic AB. Embracer Group has picked up the developer of World War Z, Saber Interactive. The cost of the acquisition is reportedly $525 million, with $150 million up-front and another $375 over three years based on performance. Saber Interactive will maintain its autonomy and has no restructuring plans. As such, both its Killing Floor 2 and Snowrunner projects' development should continue as before.
Saber Interactive is a studio that's grown significantly over the past 5 years. For a long while, the Saber has relied heavily on supplementing its development income by porting other studios' games to PC and console. Its own projects, including God Mode, R.I.P.D. The Game, NBA Playgrounds, Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn, and more recently World War Z, have all had degrees of success, but not necessarily the kind of success that would ensure the studio's independence.
Perhaps it was exhaustion over having to rely on porting other studios' projects that led to Saber Interactive's sale to Embracer Group. Or perhaps its ability to port a diverse range of games to all platforms that made Saber Interactive so appealing to Embracer Group.
Embracer Group has made dozens of acquisitions over the past 7 years. The company now claims 31 different studios across the world, with over 2,500 staff members. These include five different core subsidiaries in THQ Nordic, Koch Media, Coffee Stain Holding, Amplifier Game Invest, and now Saber Interactive.
The sheer total of games being produced by Embracer Group currently is difficult to keep track of. Sabre Interactive adds two, in the Spintires: MudRunner sequel Snowrunner and Killing Floor 2, which is being worked on with Tripwire. Coffee Stain is working on Satisfactory. Amplifier has Little Nightmares 2 being made by Tarsier Studios, as well as a new IP from an all-new studio. Koch Media has Ride 4 and Monster Energy Supercross 3 from Milestone, and a half-dozen games from Deep Silver's partners, and at least Biomutant and SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated from THQ Nordic.
What's next for Saber Interactive remains to be seen, beyond the studio's two in-development games. Saber, retaining its autonomy, could shift to focus on its own IP or it could continue working on ports. Either way, Saber should have much more reliable financial support than it's ever had previously. It's exciting to consider what that kind of support might mean for the company's future, whether that be World War Z 2 or otherwise.