The sell-off at the troubled Embracer Group continues. A sale of Saber Interactive is no longer just in the offing, but is now apparently in the clear.
We now know well enough that the Embracer Group has completely overreached itself with the massive purchase of development studios and publishers. It was already rumored that the group wanted to separate from various studios, including Gearbox and Saber Interactive.
The sale of Saber Interactive is now a done deal. The publisher and developer goes to Beacon Interactive, a company founded by Saber co-founder Matthew Karch. The takeover is expected to take place for $247 million. At the same time, Embracer Group will cease all activities in Russia.
Along with Saber Interactive, a full slate of studios, brands and other assets will go to Beacon Interactive, including all Saber Interactive-branded studios, DIGIC, Fractured Byte, Mad Head Games, New World Interactive, Nimble Giant Entertainment, Sandbox Strategies, Slipgate Ironworks and 3D Realms.
Embracer Group will acquire Saber Interactive’s following subsidiary studios: 34BigThings, 4A Games, Aspyr, Beamdog, Demiurge Studios, Shiver, Snapshot Games, Tripwire Interactive, Tuxedo Labs and Zen Studios. These studios will be integrated in to other parts of the Embracer Group in the coming period. For the time being, 4A Games (Metro) and Zen Studios are excluded, for which Saber Interactive will receive a temporary purchase option under the new owner. However, the rights to the Metro brand would still remain with the Embracer subsidiary PLAION.
Basically, Embracer Group and Beacon Interactive have divided the group of companies between themselves. “I am pleased that we have found a win-win solution for Embracer and the parts of Saber that will now leave us,” said Lars Wingefors, co-founder and CEO of Embracer Group, in a press statement. “This transaction puts both companies in a stronger position to be successful in the future. Embracer is now in a position to cease all operations in Russia in accordance with a previous board decision, while securing many developer jobs under new, independent owners. At the same time “We retain important companies, valuable IP and future publishing rights.”
Mtathew Karch, co-founder of Saber Interactive and director of Beacon Interactive, added: “Over the last four years, I have been proud to be part of Embracer’s amazing evolution into one of the leading gaming companies in the world. As part of the company’s efforts, As we reorganize for a changing industry and geopolitical challenges, we collectively felt that it was the right decision for Embracer and the core of Saber to separate. This separation leaves both parties in a much better position to pursue their “I will continue to be a large, long-term shareholder in Embracer and we will continue to partner on various ongoing and future projects.”
