Embracer Group, the owner of THQ Nordic, has announced it has acquired Saber Interactive, the studio behind the multiplayer title World War Z and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Nintendo Switch port.
Saber Interactive has “more than 600 employees across six offices,” dispatched through Russia, Sweden, Belarus, Spain, and Portugal, according to a press release which has stated that the deal has been completed through a $150 million up-front offering and another $375 million over three years based on performance.
As part of the deal, co-founders and owners, Matthew Karch and Andrey Iones, will jointly become Embracer Group’s second-largest shareholder.
“Saber has been on our radar for a very long time because of their deep history of consistently high-quality work. 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”, says Lars Wingefors, Founder and CEO of Embracer Group.
“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.” says Matthew Karch, Co-Founder, and CEO of Saber Interactive.
Embracer Group owns three publishing labels with THQ Nordic, Koch Media/Deep Silver, and Coffee Stain.
It has been particularly active in the field of acquisition over the last year, with deals closed with developers like Little Nightmares’ Tarsier Studios, Darksiders III’s Gunfire Games, and Milestone.
THQ Nordic has recently opened a new studio in Bratislava, Slovakia, that will work on survival games.
