Saber Interactive is now independent as Embracer Group also sells off 4A Games, maker of Metro 2033.
Just as rumored, Embracer Group has confirmed the sale of Saber Interactive, the developer responsible for a variety of projects including the Switch port of The Witcher 3. World War Z to the Switch port of The Witcher 3.
The deal is essentially a management buyout, with Saber co-founder Matthew Karch arranging the sale to his new company Beacon Interactive for $247 million.
The process is complex since Saber includes several separate studios, each working on different franchises. However, it's now known that the deal will also include Metro 2033 developer 4A Games and Zen Pinball maker Zen Studios, raising the overall price to around $500 million.
Saber will also keep ownership of 3D Realms, Digic Pictures, Fractured Byte, Mad Head Games, New World Interactive, Nimble Giant Entertainment, Sandbox Strategies, SmartPhone Labs, Slipgate Ironworks, and Stuntworks.
However, Embracer will retain 34BigThings, Aspyr, Beamdog, Demiurge Studios, Shiver Entertainment, Snapshot Games, Tripwire Interactive, and Tuxedo Labs.
Retaining Aspyr means that the right to continue work on Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic Remake will now be shared between Embracer and Saber as development continues.
It’s all very confusing, especially as Karch will remain a shareholder at Embracer, but will not be part of the board of directors.
The news of the 4A and Zen Studios buyout comes via Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier, who also insists that Knights Of The Old Republic is ‘going with Saber’.
Embracer seemed to confirm this by saying that it will retain ‘two joint projects’ with Saber, including ‘a previously announced AAA game based on a major licence’.
This can only be Knights Of The Old Republic Remake, yet Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors repeatedly refused to confirm this when asked by investors.
That coyness doesn’t seem to make sense, especially considering Embracer's illogical decisions over the last several years, including a spree of developer acquisitions that they seemed unsure how to manage.
After an expected $2 billion investment deal fell through, they found themselves in massive debt and immediately started laying off over a thousand staff from various studios.
It’s not hard to see why Saber would want to escape from all that but it’s already too late for developers like Free Radical Design, who have already been shut down completely.
