Embracer Group announced the sale of Saber Interactive to Beacon Interactive, founded by Saber co-founder Matthew Karch, for $247 million. The acquisition will result in Embracer ceasing all operations in Russia, which the company said in its presentation "mitigates geopolitical risks." [Embracer CEO Lars Vingefors said in the announcement, "We are pleased to have found a win-win solution for Embracer and parts of Sabre. This transaction puts both companies in a stronger position to grow together in the future. Embracer will now be able to cease all operations in Russia, in accordance with previous board decisions, while at the same time protecting the jobs of many of its developers under new independent ownership.

"At the same time, we retain our key companies, valuable IP, and future publishing rights. Cash flow will improve immediately and we remain committed to reducing net debt."

As Wingefors noted, the deal will move most, but not all, of the studios operating as part of Embracer's Saber Interactive division to Beacon. Studios leaving Embracer as a result of the sale include:

Embracer will retain some big names that previously operated under the Saber division:

However, the deal includes an option for Beacon to acquire 4A Games and Zen Studios "within a certain period of time" It also includes an option to do so, and according to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, Karch has already said that Saber will acquire them as well. If so, the acquisition price would reportedly jump to about $500 million, although the terms of the option have not been disclosed.

Embracer said that 38 projects currently in development would be included in the sale and 14 would be retained, including two "joint projects" with Beacon. These include "4A Games' next AAA game" (presumably the next "Metro"), "Killing Floor 3," "Teardown" currently in development, and "all of Zen Studios, Aspyr and Tripwire's future pipeline and back catalog."

That last sentence may seem like a bit of a dodged bullet to "Knights of the Old Republic" fans; Aspyr was working on a Schrodinger's Cat look-alike KOTOR remake, but in mid-2022 the project They withdrew from the project. No one knows what really happened, but responsibility for this remake is reportedly included in the sale of Sabre, and one might dream that it might actually be made someday.

(Aspyr's recent accomplishments with the Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection may also prompt a quiet relief that someone is working on a "KOTOR" remake.)

Saber Interactive Chief Creative Officer Tim Willits confirmed that Saber's most high-profile project to date, "Space Marine 2," is now with Saber under this deal.

Kirch said the deal "leaves both parties in a much better position to grow their respective businesses" and, more importantly, "protects the livelihood of hundreds of professionals." While a sale or acquisition does not necessarily guarantee job security (especially in this business), for now, some, such as Free Radical Design and Volition, which closed altogether after the collapse of the $2 billion investment deal that sent Embracer into a spiral This is a far better outcome than the fate suffered by Embracer studios.

Wingefors described the Saber sale as the "first deal" in a previously announced recovery plan, and suggested that more deals were in the works.

He also seemed to choose his words a bit more carefully, stating that the transaction is "a small but important step in our journey to transform Embracer into the future for the benefit of all employees, gamers and shareholders." "Previous statements by Embracer management, including Wingforth, have been focused on shareholder well-being, in contrast to the fact that they have not been particularly successful with anyone else. Perhaps Wingforce has finally learned that it is not only investors who are listening to what he has to say.