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Embracer group acquires Aspyr Media through Saber Interactive

Raigor

Member
May 14, 2020
15,146
Embracer Group AB ("Embracer") through its wholly owned subsidiary Saber Interactive ("Saber"), has today entered into an agreement to acquire US-based Aspyr Media Inc ("Aspyr") by merger from the founders Michael Rogers and Ted Staloch. The day one purchase price amounts to USD 100 million on a cash and debt free basis, where USD 60 million is paid in cash and USD 40 million is paid in newly issued Embracer B shares.
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embracer.com

Embracer Group acquires Aspyr Media - Embracer Group

Embracer Group AB ("Embracer") through its wholly owned subsidiary Saber Interactive ("Saber"), has today entered into an agreement to acquire US-based Aspyr Media Inc ("Aspyr") by merger from the founders Michael Rogers and Ted Staloch. The day one purchase price amounts to USD 100 million on a...
embracer.com embracer.com
 

Deleted member 10737

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Oct 27, 2017
49,774
great port house. they used to specialize in mac ports but have recently expanded to other platforms.
 
DrScruffleton

DrScruffleton

Member
Oct 26, 2017
12,551
Werent they just rumored the other day to be making knights of the old republic current gen ports or something, and even a rumor they were making a new old republic game
 
cw_sasuke

cw_sasuke

Member
Oct 27, 2017
26,401
Embracer takeover continues.

Give them the money to port Kotor to Switch lol - thats the one Star Wars port i really want from them, especially since its already on mobile.
 
MaxAugust

MaxAugust

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Jan 28, 2018
3,150
A good get. I like Aspyr. I used to play Civ IV on my old Mac and their logo is burned into my mind.
 
salromano

salromano

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Oct 25, 2017
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Important:

Press Release said:
Aspyr has an exciting pipeline and is looking to build on its' vast catalogue during the next few years as well as to bring out new content based on multiple licensed IP's. Aspyr currently has several games under development including one major ongoing game development project with a approximately budget of USD 70 million that is expected to become an important for the entire group. These development projects will engage more than 200 internal and external developers with the core team in Austin, Texas, and will contribute to Embracer's release slate in the coming years.
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Rumored KOTOR game?
 
Solace

Solace

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Oct 29, 2017
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Man, they are so going to launch their own storefront/streaming service.
 

Deleted member 68874

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I wonder who is funding this 70million dollar game?

This is most likely the Kotor reimagining.
 
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s y

s y

Member
Nov 8, 2017
10,432
100m seems like a lot for a port studio.

Does Aspyr have some sort of proprietary tech or is Saber just absorbing the workforce?
 
Exposure

Exposure

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,656
Huh, yeah, digging into their careers page, I think Aspyr's the mystery company doing the KOTOR remake/reiminaging.
If you look at a particular job listing...
Reporting to the Principal World Designer, the Senior Level Designer to be responsible for designing, planning, documenting, and implementing RPG quest content and game levels for an upcoming AAA Role-Playing Game. In this role, you will collaborate closely with other Designers, Writers, Engineers, and Artists to ensure the game's quests and levels are engaging and memorable experiences for players.
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CaviarMeths

CaviarMeths

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
10,655
Western Canada
I just don't understand where Embracer got the cash to buy like 60 studios in the last few years, or how the company hasn't completely collapsed under the weight of such rapid expansion. The corporate structure must be a total nightmare.
 

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Ariakon44

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CaviarMeths said:
I just don't understand where Embracer got the cash to buy like 60 studios in the last few years, or how the company hasn't completely collapsed under the weight of such rapid expansion. The corporate structure must be a total nightmare.
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They get the cash from both institutional and individual investors. Then in terms of corporate governance, Embracer is just a holding company that has various subsidiaries who seem to be doing these deals (in this case Saber Interactive). I guess that's how they try to manage it.

Regarding Aspyr, I'm happy to hear that they seem to be working on bigger and bigger projects! I remember them from the old days for their ports of id Software games like RtCW and ET:QW. Two senior people from id (Tim Willits and Todd Hollenshead) are now working at Saber, so that might have played a role in Aspyr getting acquired.
 
KORNdog

KORNdog

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
8,001
Richter1887 said:
Sigh

These guys won't stop.
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I actually think they're pretty great for older software that was otherwise "dead".

they typically buy out companies and then re-release/port/remaster games in their back catalogue and stick them back on digital stores. It keeps games alive and available that otherwise might not be.

I've not seen how well they handle a 70million dollar budget game though. Lol.
 

Deleted member 16876

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KORNdog said:
I actually think they're pretty great for older software that was otherwise "dead".

they typically buy out companies and then re-release/port/remaster games in their back catalogue and stick them back on digital stores. It keeps games alive and available that otherwise might not be.

I've not seen how well they handle a 70million dollar budget game though. Lol.
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That is a good point.

Though I still can't feel good about it. If the company crashes and burns we could have yet another THQ situation (as ironic as that would be) and the fact some of the people involved were 8chan posters makes me wary of them.
 
DarkDetective

DarkDetective

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Oct 25, 2017
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KORNdog said:
I've not seen how well they handle a 70million dollar budget game though. Lol.
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Aspyr will become part of Saber Interactive, the people behind SnowRunner and World War Z. And Deep Silver is also part of the group, who work on Saints Row and Metro, so there is AAA expertise in the group. And of course the people at Aspyr stay at the company, and they wouldn't be working on such a project if they didn't think they could do that.
 
King Kingo

King Kingo

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Dec 3, 2019
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Richter1887 said:
That is a good point.

Though I still can't feel good about it. If the company crashes and burns we could have yet another THQ situation (as ironic as that would be) and the fact some of the people involved were 8chan posters makes me wary of them.
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The company is structured in such a way that if Embracer Group ever gets themselves into a costly failure, they'll probably sell off one of their subsidiaries like Coffee Stain or Amplifier Game Invest to offset the financial liability. They're not THQ, they're smarter with their spending.
 

Deleted member 16876

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King Kingo said:
The company is structured in such a way that if Embracer Group ever gets themselves into a costly failure, they'll probably sell off one of their subsidiaries like Coffee Stain or Amplifier Game Invest to offset the financial liability. They're not THQ, they're smarter with their spending.
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I see.

That's good to hear then. As long as the devs don't lose jobs because of the leadership then that's good.
 
King Kingo

King Kingo

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Richter1887 said:
I see.

That's good to hear then. As long as the devs don't lose jobs because of the leadership then that's good.
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For the all of the bad publicity THQ Nordic rightly has, the one thing that they've been respected for is not laying off any of their staff even after mergers and acquisitions.

Take the merger of Koch Media for example, they could have easily just consolidated Deep Silver as a subsidiary business without needing to Keep Koch Media but they decided not to do that. If it was any other company, they would have laid off staff without a second thought.
 

Deleted member 16876

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King Kingo said:
For the all of the bad publicity THQ Nordic rightly has, the one thing that they've been respected for is not laying off any of their staff even after mergers and acquisitions.

Take the merger of Koch Media for example, they could have easily just consolidated Deep Silver as a subsidiary business without needing to Keep Koch Media but they decided not to do that. If it was any other company, they would have laid off staff without a second thought.
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Good to her. That makes the acquisitions they have done the past couple of years sting less for sure.
 
Samiya

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DarkDetective said:
Aspyr will become part of Saber Interactive, the people behind SnowRunner and World War Z. And Deep Silver is also part of the group, who work on Saints Row and Metro, so there is AAA expertise in the group. And of course the people at Aspyr stay at the company, and they wouldn't be working on such a project if they didn't think they could do that.
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Deep Silver is a publisher, not a developer. Volition developed Saints Row and 4A Games did Metro.
 
Mathieran

Mathieran

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Oct 25, 2017
12,863
It's gonna suck when games start going the same route streaming tv has gone the last few years. I wonder if a decade from now all the major pubs are gonna have their own sub like all the tv stations do now.
 
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