Embracer to sell Saber Interactive for up to $500 million

Following mass layoffs, The Embracer Group's restructuring plan will now include the sale of one of its most top-earning gaming segments.

3

The games industry is going through a massive constriction phase right now. Everyone is trying to control costs and stabilize profits for debt repayments and operative cash flow, and Swedish games behemoth Embracer Group is no exception. The company announced a significant cost-savings plan that has resulted in mass layoffs, the cancellation of many projects, and even the closure of some studios like Saints Row developer Volition.

Now the Embracer Group is moving on to the next big step of its plan: Selling off key parts of its gaming groups. Embracer currently has 8 operating groups, and reports indicate that it will sell two of them: Both Gearbox Entertainment and Saber Interactive are said to be up for purchase. Sources say that Embracer could sell Gearbox sometime in March, and other sources tell Bloomberg that Saber could be sold in a deal worth up to $500 million.

Saber is one of Embracer's best-earning units and selling this group will significantly affect the company's quarterly revenues. As per Embracer financial reports, Saber made around $163 million in the FY22 period, accounting for around 12% of revenues. Saber's current earnings remain a mystery as Embracer no longer reports per-unit revenue.

Saber Interactive is also a developer-publisher with over 3,700 employees, and has worked on multiple lucrative games like World War Z and the more recent Evil Dead game, as well as work-for-hire projects like the Halo Master Chief Collection.

3

Saber Interactive is a U.S.-based developer and publisher of video games. Consisting of over 20 studios and more than 2,500 employees worldwide, we are one of the key operative business units of Embracer Group.

Creating and/or publishing games for all major platforms based on original and licensed IPs, Saber's current and upcoming titles include Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, Jurassic Park: Survival, World War Z, Evil Dead: The Game and SnowRunner. Founded in 2001, Saber is also known for two decades of development partnerships with AAA publishers, producing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for Nintendo Switch, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Crysis Remastered, and many others.