a majority of Saber Interactive owned by Embracer Group, famous for the “Metro” series. port of glom and remakes of classic Star Wars games. The buyer is a group of private investors owned by Beacon Interactive, a company run by Saber co-founder Matthew Karch.
Although Embracer said the deal was worth $247 million, the actual value once debt is taken into account was about $500 million, according to data. Bloomberg’s . That’s because Beacon is said to also have to acquire 4A Games and Zen Studios (the developers of the Metro and Zen Pinball series, respectively).
As you might imagine, given the latter point, the details of the sale are a bit complicated. In addition to 4A and Zen, the sale also includes all Saber brand studios, Nimble Giant (StarCraft: Infinite), 3D animation studio Digic, support studio Fractured Byte, PR company Sandbox Strategies, Mad Head Games (), Sliding Door Iron Works (Gravin), New World Interactive (Insurgency series) and publisher 3D Realms.
34 Big Things Huggers Are Seizing (red output), trembling (transplanted switch), snapshot (Phoenix Point) and Aspyr, the man behind the recent remakes of the original Tomb Raider trilogy, Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection, Published Thursday. The publisher also retains Tripwire (cannibal), beam dog (mythical power), Tuxedo Labs () and Demiurge (sega heroes). Embracer’s publisher Plaion will also retain the long-term licensing and publishing rights for the Metro series of PC and console games.
Overall, Beacon is acquiring at least 38 ongoing game development projects, as well as some proprietary engine technology and game tools. Saber says it will retain 14 games, including Killing Floor 3. According to reporter Stephen Totilo, Beacon will employ 2,950 people and Embracer will retain 800 employees (for a total of 14,140 employees).
“Following the board’s previous decision, Embracer is now able to cease all operations in Russia while protecting many developer jobs under new independent ownership,” said Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors. “At the same time, we retain key company, valuable intellectual property rights and future publishing rights.”
Embracer acquired Sabre four years ago for $525 million and has incorporated a number of subsequent acquisitions into the division, including Demiurge and New World Interactive. Embracer has been aggressively cutting costs since last summer following a reported breakup from a group backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The company is closed and had 1,387 employees in the second half of 2023. The company also canceled 29 unannounced games in six months last year. It’s believed that Gearbox (of Borderlands fame) could be.
