News

Embracer Group snaps up Saber Interactive in deal worth $525 million

"Saber has been on our radar for a very long time"

Date Type Companies involved Size
February 19th, 2020 acquisition Embracer Group
Saber Interactive
$525m
Embracer Group snaps up Saber Interactive in deal worth $525 million

THQ Nordic owners Embracer Group has acquired US games developer Saber Interactive in a deal worth up to $525 million.

Embracer has agreed to pay $150 million in both cash and stock from the firm, on top of an earn-out consideration of potentially $375 million. However, this figure will be determined subject to "fulfilment of agreed milestones".

The acquisition includes all of Saber Interactives assets as well as its studio locations in Spain, Sweden, Belarus and Portugal.

Subsequently, Saber Interactive co-founders Matthew Karch and Andry Lones will become the second largest shareholders for Embracer.

Saber is best known for its console games, though it has recently made a name for itself for its Switch porting capabilities, such as the recent release of massive RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on Nintendo's console.

"On our radar"

"Saber has been on our radar for a very long time because of their deep history of consistently high-quality work," said Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors in a statement.

"Their ambitious moves towards self-funding projects in recent years have been particularly impressive, especially with World War Z, which sold more than three million units. While Saber will remain a standalone company within Embracer Group, we look forward to collaborating with them to elevate their ability to create and market premier titles."

Saber Interactive co-founder and CEO Matthew Karch added: "Over the course of 19 years as an independent developer, Saber has had its share of suitors. With Embracer Group, we've at last found the perfect partner. We could not be more thrilled to see through the many projects we’ve dreamed of together."

The Embracer Group recently acquired Little Nightmares Swedish independent developer Tarsier Studios.


Deputy Editor

Matthew Forde is the deputy editor at PocketGamer.biz and also a member of the Pocket Gamer Podcast. You can find him on Twitter @MattForde64 talking about stats, data and everything pop culture related - particularly superheroes.