Embracer has officially sold Saber Interactive for $247 million. There were many reports of Embracer Group selling the company, but they made it official today by releasing a statement revealing it has agreed to divest selected assets, from the operative group Saber Interactive and have sold it to Beacon Interactive, a company controller by Saber Interactive co-founder Matthew Karch.
“Over the past four years, I have been proud to be part of Embracer’s amazing transformation into one of the leading game companies in the world. As part of the company’s efforts to reorganize for a changed industry and geopolitical challenges, we jointly felt it was the right decision for both Embracer and the core of Saber to part ways. This divestment leaves both parties in much better positions to grow our respective businesses. I will continue to remain a large, long-term shareholder of Embracer and we will remain partners on several ongoing and future projects. This transaction also safeguards the livelihoods of hundreds of professionals, many of whom I have worked with for over two decades,” says Matthew Karch, co-founder of Saber Interactive and director of Beacon Interactive.
Beacon Interactive is also granted an option right to acquire 4A Games, known for the Metro series and Zen Studios for a fixed price within a certain time period. Jason Schreier of Bloomberg also confirmed that Saber Interactive already decided to acquire the two studios despite what Embracer stated. This would make the total purchase price around $500 million.
Embracer will retain studios Aspyr, Beamdog, Demiurge, Tuxedo Labs, Tripwire, Snapshot, and Shiver.
Saber Interactive will keep studios Nimble Giant, 3D Realms, Sandbox Strategies, New World Interactive, Slipgate Ironworks, Mad Head Games, Fractured Byte, and Digic.
Embracer Group has been known to cancel games as of late including a new Deus Ex video game after it was in development for two years.
Source: VGC