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Embracer Group sells Saber Interactive for $247 million

Saber Interactive is being acquired by private group Beacon Interactive, and 4A Games and Zen Studios are reportedly not far behind.

TJ Denzer

March 14, 2024 7:45 AM

Image via Embracer Group

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Embracer Group is divesting and withdrawing from several studios this week, selling off Saber Interactive for certain and likely letting go of 4A Games (the Metro series) and Zen Studios (Pinball FX) as well. The sale of Saber has been confirmed for around $247 million USD, and it will be going to private group Beacon Interactive, which is led by Saber co-founder Matthew Karch.

Embracer Group confirmed the details of the deal in a press release to its investors this week. The deal will be paid with promissory notes expected to be repaid in cash at a later date, and the deal should be completed by no later than December 31, 2024. In the press release, Embracer also granted Beacon the option to acquire 4A Games and Zen Pinball within the same deal for a fixed price within a certain time period. An email obtained by Bloomberg suggests that deal will also go through, which would raise the final totals of the deal to around $500 million.

Rumors of Embracer readying to sell Saber Interactive were already floating around at the end of February 2024, but nothing had been fully confirmed or completed at the time. It’s also worth noting that IP will be split between the two entities with some going along in the sale and some being retained by Embracer. Saber will end up with Nimble Giant (Star Trek Infinite), 3D Realms, Sandbox Strategies, New World Interactive (Insurgency), Slipgate Ironworks (Graven), Mad Head Games (Scars Above), Fractured Byte (Borderlands Legendary Collection), and Digic. Meanwhile, Embracer ends up keeping Tripwire Interactive (Killing Floor), Beamdog, Tuxedo Labs (Teardown), Demiurge, Shiver, Aspyr (Star Wars games remasters), Snapshot Games (Phoenix Point), and 34BigThings (Redout).

It's a big shift in properties this week, and hopefully ends up with several studios in safer hands given Embracer’s current chaotic state. Stay tuned for further updates as we follow Saber Interactive, Embracer Group, and other studios involved in this story.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.