Embracer gets to keep two of the many studios it owns after all.
Last March, Embracer agreed to sell Saber Interactive to Beacon Interactive for $ 247 million. The thing is, Saber and Beacon have the same CEO, Matthew Karch, so this more or less equated to Saber buying themselves out of Embracer.
As we noted at the time, that deal came with an option. In finance terms, we are talking about an actual contract, not just the abstract idea of an option. This contract gives someone the right to buy a particular asset before a specified date, but they are not obliged to go through with any purchase.
Beacon had an option to bring along with them two of Embracer’s studios. 4A Games, established in 2006 by three former members of GSC Game World, is famous for producing the Metro video game franchise. On the other hand, Zen Studios are the developers of the Zen Pinball and Pinball FX games.
As reported by Video Games Chronicle, Saber has chosen not to exercise their option to buy 4A Games and Zen Studios. Their respective franchises will also stay with Embracer by default as well.
Jason Schreier shared this message on Twitter:
“Saber CEO Matt Karch told me in a statement this morning that “it was always our intention to exercise on 4A” but “we thought it would be better for all parties” for the studio to instead remain with Embracer”
Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors had this to say in turn:
“We are satisfied with the conclusion of this transaction and very glad to see the great teams and assets of 4A Games and Zen Studios remain within Embracer. They will be important building blocks in our continued journey. 4A Games has currently two AAA titles under development that we eagerly await to announce.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank [Saber founder] Matthew Karch for his contributions over the years, and at the same time congratulate the Saber team on the successful release of the iconic Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, that will make a great start in their new structure.”
As we had noted before, Saber and Embracer do seem to have a good relationship even after they had split apart. Under more acrimonious circumstances, Saber may not have had this option to begin with.
For Embracer’s part, their plan to split up to different companies is presumably still in the works, as they already have other games published under the Coffee Stain name. Based on how they explained their planned split, Zen Studios is likely to go with Coffee Stain, while 4A Games will go to Middle-Earth Enterprises & Friends. The IP owner for the Metro franchise, Plaion, was already announced to go to Middle-Earth Enterprises & Friends.
With everything that’s happened, it would be natural if you were thinking if it was better if these two studios were better off leaving Embracer. But perhaps that scenario would be the worse outcome for them at this point. In particular, if Beacon Interactive is not in a position to support more studios than Saber, than trying to grow beyond their means would put them in the same situation Embracer was in, albeit on a considerably smaller scale.
On the flip side, it may also be bad timing for 4A Games to leave if they just started on these two games they are set to announce soon. We wish the best for all these companies moving forward, and we are looking forward to more Metro and pinball in the future.
