Who is Beacon Interactive, new owner of Saber Interactive established by its former CEO and Embracer exec

Beacon Interactive has been named as a buyer of parts of Saber Interactive through a deal with Embracer Group. Taking a closer look at the new owner, it can be assumed that Saber bought itself out of the Swedish holding company through a newly established entity.

Matthew Karch (Image credit: Embracer’s official website)

There is not much known about Beacon Interactive, but is shouldn’t be confused with Beacon Interactive Systems, a software development company that works closely with the US Department of Defense.

It appears that the new business entity was registered in Florida in January 2024 as Beacon Interactive Group Holdings LLC, with Karch as its only manager/director. The company doesn’t have an official website or other pages with information about its operations.

Matthew Karch, who co-founded Saber Interactive with Andrey Iones and Anton Krupkin in 2001, served as the company’s CEO until June 2023. He stepped down from his role after Embracer announced a business restructuring, becoming the interim chief operating officer of the Swedish holding company.

Together with Crystal Dynamics CEO Phil Rogers, who took on the role of interim chief strategy officer, they oversaw the restructuring program and conducted a review of Embracer’s business and portfolio.

As part of the process, Embracer evaluated several options regrading Saber Interactive, including its divestment and restructuring, and eventually decided that the partial sale would be the best option.

On November 22, 2023, the Swedish holding company entered into an agreement with Karch to avoid a conflict of interests after a proposal was made to acquire parts of Saber Interactive. Since then, Saber has been run by the remaining management, with restrictions relating to Karch.

So it looks like Beacon Interactive was established by the former CEO of Saber specifically for the deal, which now makes Saber an independent company again under a new legal entity. It is unclear where Karch received funding for the transaction, but Bloomberg previously mentioned a group of private investors.

“As part of the company’s efforts to reorganize for a changed industry and geopolitical challenges, we jointly felt it was the right decision for both Embracer and the core of Saber to part ways,” he said in a statement. However, Karch will still remain a large, long-term shareholder of Embracer Group.

After splitting from Embracer Group, Saber Interactive will take all of its core studios and some other subsidiaries, including 3D Realms, New World Interactive, Nimble Giant and 4A Games. Through Beacon Interactive, it will also receive 38 games with a total value of $224 million.