Saber Interactive, the developers of World War Z, have been acquired by Embracer Group for $150 million

World War Z Image
World War Z Image (Image credit: Saber Interactive)

What you need to know

  • Saber Interactive has been acquired by Embracer Group.
  • Embracer Group was previously known as THQ Nordic AB before being rebranded in 2019.
  • Saber Interactive developed World War Z and has been responsible for porting several titles to the Nintendo Switch.

Embracer Group, formerly known as THQ Nordic AB before being rebranded in 2019, has continued its pattern of rapidly acquiring new studios in order to expand. This time, Embracer Group has acquired Saber Interactive, the developers of last year's World War Z.

The press release for the announcement revealed that Embracer Group paid $150 million for Saber Interactive's six offices, which will remain intact as Saber Interactive operates as an internal division of Embracer Group, employing over 600 staff. An additional $375 million payout in the acquisition is possible dependent on certain options over the next few years.

In addition to developing World War Z, Saber Interactive is a studio known for support work and ports of multiple large titles, such as helping with Halo: The Master Chief Collection, as well as porting The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Call of Cthulhu and Vampyr to the Nintendo Switch.

With this acquisition, Embracer Group now maintains five internal divisions, with a total of 26 different game development studios. THQ Nordic is the largest of these divisions, with Saber Interactive, Koch Media, Coffee Stain Holding and Amplifier Invest making up the remaining four.

Samuel Tolbert
Contributor

Samuel Tolbert is a freelance gaming writer who started working for iMore and its sister sites Windows Central and Android Central in July 2019. He handles news, previews, reviews, and exclusive original reporting, and has also been featured on TechRadar.

With a background studying engineering before he shifted his focus to gaming journalism, he's skilled at identifying technical advantages and disadvantages provided by different hardware. If he’s not writing something, he’s off playing video games, spending time with his pets, exercising, or reading. He's also fond of trying to draw things with his iPad.