Saber Interactive reportedly no longer maintains substantial development operations in North America
Tim Willits of Saber Interactive revealed that the company no longer engages in game development within North America. Although their headquarters and publishing operations are still located in the U.S., the actual development occurs in over 15 studios spread across nations like Serbia, Armenia, Georgia, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Argentina, and Australia.
Once separated from Embracer in 2024, Saber's former subsidiaries like Aspyr in Texas, Demiurge Studios in Boston, Tripwire Interactive in Georgia, and Florida's Shiver Entertainment remained with Embracer. Shiver Entertainment was later acquired by Nintendo in May 2024. Beamdog in Canada also continued under Embracer.
Currently, Saber retains ownership of New World Interactive, operating in Denver and Calgary. This studio is known for the title Insurgency: Sandstorm, which saw a significant update in May, although it faced layoffs in 2023 before the separation from Embracer.
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Willits emphasized the importance of strategic location choices for game development. He highlighted Saber's willingness to establish studios globally, noting that talent is not confined to traditional tech hubs like California.
Willits criticized the excessive costs associated with major game productions, alluding to a recent big-budget game from North America. He compared this with the production costs of [Warhammer 40,000] Space Marine 2, indicating that its budget was about a third of the larger North American project, yet it sold significantly more units.
He pointed out that North American studios often have operating expenses exceeding $2 million monthly. To underscore this, Willits mentioned that SnowRunner, which has been highly profitable, cost only $6 million to produce—equating to just three months of development expenses in California. He suggested that the financial model for large studios necessitates selling an enormous volume of copies to be profitable.
The complete conversation with Tim Willits is available on GamesIndustry.biz.