Embracer Group sells off Space Marine maker Saber Interactive and most of its studios for $247M, but the price could go a lot higher

Embracer Group has announced the sale of Saber Interactive to a company called Beacon Interactive, founded by Saber co-founder Matthew Karch, in a deal worth $247 million, although options in the deal mean that price could go much higher. The deal will also see Embracer halt all operations in Russia, which the company said in a presentation «reduces geopolitical risk.»

«I am pleased that we have found a win-win solution for Embracer and the parts of Saber that now will leave us,» Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors said in the announcement. «This transaction puts both companies in a stronger position to thrive going forward. Embracer is now able to discontinue all operations in Russia, according to a previous board decision, while safeguarding many developer jobs under new independent ownership.

»At the same time, we keep key companies, valuable IPs and future publishing rights. Cash flow is immediately improved, and we remain committed to reducing net debt."

As Wingefors said, the deal will see most of the studios operating as part of Embracer's Saber Interactive division, but not all of them, go to Beacon. Studios leaving Embracer as part of the sale include:

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

However, the deal also includes an option to enable Beacon to acquire 4A Games and Zen Studios «within a certain time period,» and according to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, Karch has already said that Saber is picking them up too. If so, that will reportedly bump the purchase price up to roughly $500 million, although the terms of the option were not revealed.

Embracer said 38 projects currently in development are included with the sale, while 14—including two «joint projects» with Beacon—will be retained. Those include «the next AAA game from 4A Games,» which is presumably the next Metro, Killing Floor 3, the ongoing development of Teardown, and «the full upcoming pipeline and back catalog from Zen Studios, Aspyr, and