Embracer is officially confirmed a partial sale of Russia’s Saber Interactive, and at the same time, details emerged about the future of the Ukrainian studio 4A Games (creators of Metro) — one of the first to report the deal in late February was well-known gaming journalist Jason Schreier from Bloomberg.
Updated [12:07]: Ukraine’s 4A Games will also be taken over by Russia’s Saber – Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier obtained a copy of an internal email to employees where CEO Matt Karch confirmed the sale of 4A Games and Zen Studios.
The Swedish gaming holding company presents this deal as a complete cessation of all operations in Russia by releasing certain Saber Interactive assets. The beginning of the story and all the important context — in a separate article. There is no point in reprinting everything again, so in this sequel we will get straight to the point.
First, the deal is worth $247 million, not $500 million, as Schreyer initially reported. Later on, it will become clear why this amount is so high. Secondly, the buyer is Beacon Interactive, a studio owned by the co-founder of Saber Interactive. Thirdly, 4A Games (the creators of Metro) will remain with Embracer for the time being, but there is one thing: under the terms of the agreement, Saber Interactive retains the option to buy out 4A Games along with other Embracer assets for a fixed price over a certain period of time. Another important detail is that Saber Interactive will acquire another Ukrainian studio — Fractured Byte (a game development studio with headquarters in Estonia and two development offices in Dnipro and Kyiv).
Under the terms of the transaction, Saber Interactive will own a number of studios (full list below) and a total of 38 games with a total book value of approximately SEK 2.3 billion, while Embracer will retain 4A Games (along with others) and a total of 14 titles worth SEK 0.5 billion, including two joint projects with the Buyer.
Which studios will Saber Interactive acquire
- Fractured Byte
- Nimble Giant
- DIGIC
- Mad Head Games
- New World Interactive
- 3D Realms
- Slipgate
Which studios remain with Embracer
- 4A Games
- 34 Big Things
- Shiver
- Snapshot
- Tripwire
- Tuxedo Labs
- Zen Studios
- Aspyr
- Beamdog
- Demiurge
What games are left by Embracer
- The next AAA game from 4A Games
- An unannounced AAA game that is currently at the concept stage
- Previously announced AAA game under a key license
- New multiplayer AAA shooter on managed IP
- New AA game based on the Asmodee IP
- New AA game from 34 Big Things on their own IP
- Killing Floor 3
- Teardown
- Full back catalog from Zen Studios, Aspyr and Tripwire
Later today, Embracer will hold a press conference for investors, analysts and the media. We will update this text if any interesting details are revealed.